Kuroko no Basuke - Amnesia
by chiagirl
Summary: Due to a run in with a spirit known as Kagami, Kuroko has lost all of his memories. To make matters worse, Kuroko keeps getting pulled into parallel worlds that are alternate realities of his own - and in each one he has a different boyfriend. Will Kuroko ever recover his memories? And which world does he belong to? Plot taken from the Amnesia anime. Please read and review; thanks!
1. Can you hear me?

**Author's Note: Hi everyone! This is my first entry into the world of Kuroko no Basuke, so I'm pretty excited for it. This story is going to take the characters from KnB and put them into the plotline of the Amnesia anime. If you've already seen Amnesia; you'll probably find this fanfic pretty boring. If you haven't seen it, then read this story instead! I didn't like the Amnesia anime too much as I thought the characters lacked depth, but I have to admit the plot would work great for a KnB fanfic. **

**Each chapter in this fic is likely to undergo revision at some point whether it be to correct spelling and grammar errors or make character fit their personalities better. I haven't read the KnB manga and I've just started the third season of the anime so as I learn more about the characters I may go back and fix some things I think are too OOC. **

**Now that I've gotten that out of the way, feel free to read and enjoy the story!**

* * *

_Fire._

_Everything was on fire._

_A short male with light blue hair ran desperately, trying to escape. Reaching the exit was his only hope. He ran down the staircase, past the clock on the wall, past the bells continuing to ring. He had almost reached the bottom when the ceiling caved in. Luckily, the falling debris missed him, but the ceiling had dropped its fiery wreckage right in front of his only way out. The path he had taken to get this far was already encased by flames. It was then that he realized: He was going to die._

_He looked up to where the roof had once been. If only he could fly. Embers floated up into the night sky, getting lost among the stars. He could see the fire roaring at the top of the walls, as if it too wanted to escape into the night. Somehow, even though these very same flames would likely end his life, he found the view beautiful. He blinked once, as though to make sure it was real, and the scenery began to change. _

_Now he was falling off a boat and into a deep body of water. He couldn't breathe and couldn't swim back to the surface to give himself air. All he could do was stare at the surface, where the full moon shined down upon the lake. It too, was beautiful, just as the embers amongst the stars had been. He tried to reach for it, but continued to sink further and further. Suddenly everything began to fade again, like a memory he couldn't quite recall. All he could here was a voice:_

"_**Can you hear me?"**_

_Now he was standing at an intersection where he could see a lit "Don't Walk" sign. He was not alone this time, but rather surrounded by strangers he did not know. They began to cross as the sign changed to "Walk". As Kuroko took his first step into the street, he heard the voice again:_

"**Hey, Can you hear me?"**

* * *

It was as if he had suddenly woken up from a dream. But something wasn't quite right. He felt dizzy and disoriented. He could vaguely make out a small group of people that appeared to playing basketball before spots began clouding his vision and he blacked out.

"_**Can you hear…?"**_

* * *

When he woke up,he found he was laying on a bench in what looked to be a locker room. As he sat up, he saw a calendar on the wall. It showed the date was August 1st. Suddenly his view was abruptly blocked as a red haired male appeared between him and the calendar out of nowhere.

"**Hey, you."**

He left out a startled shriek, and the man disappeared just as a pink haired girl came running in through the door.

"Tetsu-kun, are you all right?" She asked while running up to him. "I heard you scream. What's wrong?" She began checking him over, presumable for injuries. _Tetsu. _Was that his name? He couldn't remember. "You don't look injured…" she muttered after a while. "Still, I'm going to have Aomine take you home just to be safe. It's not like you to faint in the middle of practice."

"Um…" was all he was able to get out before she forced him to lie back down on the bench. _Who is she? And who's Aomine?_ He was finding he wasn't able to remember much of anything.

"I'll go get him. Just be patient and wait, ok?" And with that, she left back the way she came.

"Who was that?" He heard a voice ask. He turned, and saw the same red haired guy from earlier leaning against the wall. Immediately he put his hands over his mouth to silence another shriek.

Seeing that he was frightening him, the stranger put his hands up as though to show he was harmless. "Um, anyway, are you all right? You just kind of collapsed earlier, so I was worried."

Before he could even think of how to respond to that, the door opened again. This time a tall male with dark blue hair walked through. He stopped in front of the bench with an annoyed expression on his face. "So what's with you suddenly collapsing anyway?" he demanded.

He didn't know how to answer that. He could barely even remember collapsing. _Who's he? Is this Aomine?_ He didn't know.

Upon the lack of an answer the other male frowned. "Hey," he said bending down until he was closer to his eye level, "are you really all right?" Now he actually seemed concerned.

_I don't know this person. _He started to become worried. _I don't know anyone._

Upon seeing he wasn't in the mood to talk, the other man let out a sigh. "I'll walk you home, so hurry up and get ready." He turned to leave.

He sat up on the bench. Just before the taller male reached the door he turned at looked back. "At least answer me, Tetsu." His tone sounded frustrated.

"O-okay." At least he knew his own name now, if nothing else.

"Okay!?" Before he could figure out what he had done to upset him, the door opened again and an even larger male with purple hair walked thorough.

"I heard you collapsed," the room's new occupant stated before making his way over to the bench.

"Murasakibara, why are you here too?" The leaner man sounded annoyed.

"Because Momoi let me in," he said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

_Momoi? Was that the pink haired girl from earlier?_

Murasakibara bent down until he was roughly eye level with the shorter male. "Are you all right Kuro-chin? You didn't hit anything when you fell, did you?"

He couldn't focus on the question. _Kuro-chin? I thought I was Testsu?_

"What are you spacing out for? At least listen to what we're saying," the leaner male demanded. Perhaps he was mistaken, but it sounded like the other was more upset about the fact that Murasakibara had diverted his attention than he was about him spacing out.

"Aomine don't pressure him like that. He just woke up, what do you expect?" Murasakibara defended. "I know you're worried, but interrogating him isn't going to help anyone. He turned back to him. "Now, before we go home, should we stop by the hospital?"

"…Huh?" Was all he managed to get out. He wasn't really paying attention to the question. He knew who Aomine was now, at least.

"We probably should," Aomine agreed.

"O-okay."

"**You can't!"** The voice was that of the red haired male he had somehow forgotten about until now. But no matter which way he turned, he couldn't see where the said male was. **"You can't go to the hospital. It'll be a huge hassle." ** His voice again. **"Just pretend you're tired or something."**

"O-okay."

"So we're going to the hospital…?" Aomine questioned.

"No."

"Well which is it?" He sounded annoyed again.

"I think I'm just tired." It wasn't entirely a lie. He also wanted a chance to sit down and sort things out without being surrounded by people he couldn't remember. "I'd like to go home."

"If you were so tired you fell over, how hard have you been pushing yourself lately?" Aomine asked. "You're always-"

"Enough," Murasakibara interrupted. "If that's all it is, we'll take you home."

Supposedly he knew both these people, yet they didn't seem to get along very well. But they didn't really seem on bad term with each other either. It was confusing. He let the two of them lead him outside, although Aomine seemed slightly annoyed that Murasakibara was coming as well.

They walked in silence for a while, with Murasakibara taking the lead and Aomine following behind the two of them. "We're not walking too fast, are we?" Murasakibara asked after a while.

"No." Truthfully he almost had to take two steps to keep up with their one, but that was to be expected since both of them were taller. He didn't want to complain and risk them leaving him on his own when he didn't even know where his house was.

They walked on quietly for a while longer until Aomine broke the silence. "It's getting cold," he announced. "It's only August. What's going on with this weather?" Murasakibara switched to following behind the two of them while Aomine continued his train of thought. "Just when you think the rainy season is over, summer has passed you by, and then it's fall."

"By the way Aomine, what happened with school?" Murasakibara asked seemingly out of nowhere.

"I left early."

"Is it okay to do that?" He continued to question.

"I'm doing what needs to be done, even without you telling me too."

"You're so annoying."

"The same could be said about you."

"This part of him hasn't changed since he was a kid, right Kuro-chin?" Murasakibara asked, falling into step beside him.

"Umm…"

"Weren't you listening?" The purple giant questioned him.

_I can't keep up with the conversation. I'm acquainted with these people, but I can't remember them. _

"Hey," Murasakibara asked turning to Aomine, "you think he…?"

"Lay off already," Aomine responded. "And stop acting like an old woman."

"Old woman?"

_I don't remember anything._

"You're meddlesome. Like an old woman."

"I'm just worried about him. Besides, you..."

_I have no memories at all._

"It's none of your business."

"Don't blame me when you fail your exams come spring."

_It's not only others I can't remember._

"That's not going to happen."

_I can't even remember who I am._

"Hey!" He heard them call out. He didn't even notice he'd walk past them, and he hurried back to where they were standing.

"Where are you going?" Aomine asked.

"This is your place, right?" Murasakibara questioned, pointing to the building they'd just passed.

"Here?" The place didn't look familiar to him. But he supposed at this point he shouldn't be surprised.

"You're way too out of it," Murasakibara stated. "Are you sure you'll be alright by yourself? Maybe we should stick around for a little longer."

"You don't need to baby him that much," Aomine complained.

"You're too hard on him."

"Um…" he interrupted before they could start fighting. "I'm going to bed as soon as I get inside. Thank you both for walking me home."

"Are you really alright?" Murasakibara questioned again.

"Yes." He really just wanted them both to go so he could have some time to himself to think.

"But…"

"Come on, let's go," Aomine said pulling Murasakibara by the arm.

"Don't drag me," he complained, shrugging out of Aomine's grip. He turned back to the shorter male. "If anything comes up, just call, okay?" And with that he turned to leave, before throwing out, "Go get some sleep," over his shoulder.

* * *

Looking around the inside didn't do anything to jog his memory. It was like he was intruding in a stranger's home. "What should I do?" he wondered out loud.

"You don't know?"

He whirled around, startled. The red haired guy from earlier was back. How did he even get in here?

"I thought so," the stranger said sounding defeated. "You lost your memory."

"How do you know?" He was suspicious of this person. It was normal for people to be able to appear and disappear at will.

"I've been following you for a while. But you don't know who I am, do you?"

"I don't," he admitted, wondering if he should call someone in case this guy was a stalker.

"You seem to be confused about a lot of things," the stranger stated sounding worn out, "so I'll explain everything from the start. I supposed I should introduce myself first though. My name is Kagami. I'm a spirit from a world separate from this one."

"A spirit," He deadpanned. This guy was clearly crazy. Then again, maybe he hit his head too hard when he fell and he was the one who was actually crazy because this was all in his head. That would actually explain a lot.

"That's right," Kamagi stated. "And just so you know, you're the only one that can see me. No one else can hear me either."

"…" He was really starting to think about taking Murasakibara up on his offer of calling. Too bad he didn't remember his number, if he ever had it to begin with.

"Stop looking at me like I'm crazy!"

"I don't think you're crazy." Half true. "I think I hit my head to hard and need to go lie down."

"Look, just here me out okay?" "So…um…anyway…well, actually it's my fault you lost your memories. When I came into your world, I bumped into your spirit. Not a spirit in the same sense that I am though; I guess you'd call it your soul? It I'm really sorry!" He bowed apologetically.

"What do you mean by that?" He wasn't really even sure why he was asking as it was clear by now that either one or both of them were insane, but he figured he really didn't have anything to lose.

Kagami scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Well, in place of the memories that you lost…well, to put it simply, I'm trapped in your soul."

"Wait a second. I don't understand what you're saying." Actually it was starting to make a weird sort of sense. Why this guy could suddenly appear or disappear. Why neither Aomine nor Murasakibara had reacted at all when he shouted not to go to the hospital. Speaking of that… "Wait, why can't I go to the hospital?"

"Because going to the hospital won't do any good! You're memory loss isn't caused by any trouble with your mind or body. You have to get it back through memories and interactions shared with others. If you're hospitalized instead, and are all alone, you can't talk to people and find the connections you once had with them. If that isolation from those that could jump start your memories continues, you'll even forget things like how to drink water or how to breathe, and you'll die!"

_Die!?_ Now he was scared. He didn't know what to think.

Seeing that he was scaring him, Kagami changed the subject a slightly. "So to make sure that doesn't happen, we need to avoid thoughtlessly saying you have amnesia, and act carefully-"

"But..." He interrupted. "I still don't understand anything. I can't even remember who I am."

"Kuroko Tetsuya." At his shocked look, he continued. At least, I _think_ that's your name based on what everyone started shouting after you collapsed on the middle of the court. Sorry about that by the way," he apologized again.

_Kuroko Tetsuya. _The name fit with what everyone had been calling him. It was only a name, but it was the only thing about himself that he really knew. Suddenly he felt better. Like everything was going to be okay.

* * *

Elsewhere, Aomine and Murasakibara were walking back towards their respective homes.

"Is Kuro-chin really alright?" Murasakibara asked. "I wonder if he can make the trip in his current condition?"

"Let's just keep an eye on things for now," Aomine replied. "I'm counting on you to cover for him at practice if I can't make it."

"Of course. That's what I was planning on doing."

* * *

"I wonder if Aomine and Murasakibara go to the same as you?" Kagami pondered. "They were talking on the way home like you were childhood friends."

"You're right." He saw a phone, presumably his, lying on the nightstand. He picked it up and began looking through the contact list to see if anything caught his eye.

"But even when they brought up the past, you didn't react," Kagami frowned, "so I wonder if they suspected something."

"Maybe." He had only 5 contacts. Momoi, Aomine, Murasakibara, Kise, and Midorima. He didn't even know who the last two were, and he only had a guess about the first one. _These are the only contacts I have… _He guessed he wasn't much of a people person if he only had 5 people on his contacts list. His eyes trailed up to his dresser, where he had a photo tacked up. 5 people including Aomine, Murasakibara, and himself, were holding up a trophy, for basketball most likely judging from the uniforms. _Are the other two Midorima and Kise? _The pink haired girl he'd seen earlier today was also in the photo, although she didn't have a uniform. _Momoi?_ "You may be right, but…" he trailed off and went to get a better look at the photo.

Kagami stared at him for a moment. "Did that photo help you remember something?"

_Why can't I remember this? _ He thought, taking the photo off its place of honor. _ Is there really any way for me to get my memories back?_

"…Are you alright?" Kagami seemed to pick up on his shift in mood.

_Maybe it's impossible._

"Hey, Kuroko." Kuroko turned to look at Kagami who was suddenly acting worried. "Can you hear me?"

_That sounded oddly familiar. _"Yeah…sorry."

Kagami sighed. "It's been a rough day, so you must be getting tired. You should get some rest."

"Yeah." The atmosphere in the room was pretty depressing. He doubted sleep would suddenly restore his memories. What he really felt like doing was crying.

"I…I'm going to do my best to help you, so…" Even though he didn't exactly seem to have a suitable end to the sentence, Kuroko could appreciate the gesture to cheer him up.

"Thanks." He smiled in what he hoped was a sincere manner. He really did feel a little better.

"Y-yeah…" Kagami rubbed the back of neck sheepishly. It appeared the compliment made him embarrassed. "Anyway," said resting a hand on Kuroko's shoulder, "goodnight." And just like that, he was gone.

Even though Kuroko had originally wanted to be alone, he changed his mind once he had actually gotten his wish. The place was really quite big for one person. Where were his parents? Or siblings if he had any? The silence was starting to become deafening.

"…Goodnight," Kuroko replied back, even though he knew it was far too late for Kagami to hear him. _Who am I? I know my name but other than that…._

* * *

Somewhere in the dark of night, a person with mismatched eyes leaned against a streetlamp and grinned like a madman.

* * *

**Author's note: I really need a flow chart of how everyone refers to everyone else. It seems like everyone has a different way they refer to Kuroko, and I think Momoi has nicknames for all of them too. **

**If you notice any errors with spelling, or grammar, please point them out to me so I can fix them. **

**The next chapter has lots of Kise, and Midorima will make an appearance as well. But before you read it, please review this one! Thanks!**


	2. Kurokocchi!

**Author's note: It has just occurred to me that Kise is the only GOM member that isn't antisocial. Aomine, Midorima, Murasakibara, and Akashi seem pretty antisocial to me. Kuroko may not be by choice, but must people don't even notice him do to his lack of presence so...yeah.**

* * *

"Good morning."

Still half asleep, Kuroko rolled over to see Kagami standing at the edge of his bed. So yesterday hadn't been a hallucination after all. Whereas before he probably would have been afraid, after his musings last night he was just happy to see a familiar face. "Good morning."

"Do you still have your memories from yesterday?" Kagami looked like he was a little afraid of the answer.

"Yes. They're still the only ones I have though."

"That's good! If you lost them every day, we'd be in real trouble." He laughed, before adopting a slightly more serious tone. "If there's anything bothering you, you can talk to me. I know from your perspective you're surrounded by strangers, and it must be scary not knowing who you can trust. But…but in order to get your memories back, I'll support you with everything I've got!" He proclaimed pointing his thumb at himself. "So…let's do our best!"

"Yeah." He nodded. What Kagami said was true. He didn't really know if he could trust Aomine or Murasakibara, or even Kagami for that matter. But even though he couldn't explain it, he felt like he could trust Kagami. He certainly seemed to want to help him. "Thank you, Kagami. For everything."

Kagami looked surprised, before suddenly grinning. "You remembered my name! I thought that might have taken a seat on the back burner considering all the other stuff you have to worry about." He suddenly stopped. "But we really can't talk about this right now," he said pointing at the clock. "If you don't hurry, you're going to be late for school."

School? He supposed he must have school considering the first two places he remembered consisted of a basketball court and a locker room. He'd been walked home by Aomine and Murasakibara, but it seemed like a straight enough shot that he could trace his steps back on his own. Only one way to find out.

* * *

When he got there, the first thing he saw was a group of girls giggling around a blond haired man. "I have to go now. Sorry," the center of attention replied before politely pushing his way past the girls.

"Kise!" One of them called out, "I'll be coming to watch your next game again," she said smiling sweetly.

_Kise? Wasn't that one of the contacts on my phone? He looks like that guy in the picture too…_

"Thank you," the blond replied politely before leaving the crowd of fangirls with a wave.

_I need to catch up to him. He might be able to help trigger my memories._ "Excuse me," Kuroko said as he rushed through the mob of fangirls. He didn't notice two of them in particular glare at him with more venom than normal. Eventually he caught sight of the blond again. "Kise!"

"Oh, Kurokocchi!" He seemed happy to see him. "Is it okay for you to be back here though?" he said frowning slightly, "I mean, after what happened yesterday?"

So he knew about that. Well, if they were teammates, he supposed he would have been there when he blacked out. "Yeah, I think I'll be okay."

"Really? I'm glad."

"T-thanks…" The blond just kept staring at him, and it was kind of creeping him out. "Um, is something…"

"N-no." The blond laughed nervously. It appeared he was embarrassed to be caught staring. "A-anyway, do you want me to walk you to your first class? Momoi mentioned you still seemed kind of out of it yesterday."

"Sure. Thank you." It wasn't as if he knew where his first class was anyway.

They stopped by his locker first, and Kuroko was relieved to find a schedule for all of his classes amongst his things. They made it to his first class okay, but his note taking was interrupted when Kagami decided to show up again.

"So that was Kise," Kagami stated. "Good looking guy, but kind of shady."

"Shady?" Kuroko asked.

"He was looking at you very oddly earlier."

"So?" Truth be told, it had bothered him a little, but not enough to condemn the guy to being shady as far as he was concerned.

"I think he's a stalker."

"Kagami, when you popped up in my apartment out of nowhere, I thought YOU were a stalker."

"Hey!"

"Kuroko Tetsuya, do you have something you'd like to share with the class?" The teacher asked frowning at him.

"N-no."

"Then please be quiet and focus on the lesson."

"Oops..." Kagami muttered.

"Sorry," Kuroko apologized, and continued with his note taking.

* * *

The rest of his classes passed uneventfully. He was surprised to find Kise waiting for him outside his last class.

"Kurokocchi, want to walk to practice with me?" Kise asked smiling at him.

"Okay," he replied. They made it to the gym without too much trouble, though it seemed to Kuroko that they took a very roundabout way to get there. When they arrived he noticed Amoine and Murasakibara were already there, along with the pink haired girl he assumed to be Momoi.

"Okay, looks like we're all here," the girl stated. "Midorima is going to be late today due to a dentist appointment. I figured we'd practice free throws today since it's one of Midorima's specialties so he won't be missing much. Everybody grab a ball and line up!"

They lined up behind the free throw line. Murasakibara shot first. He missed, although it didn't look like he was trying very hard either.

"No slacking," the girl shouted, "or I'll make sure you don't get any sweets next game. "

"Momoi is so mean to me…" _So she is Momoi then._

"Next!" Momoi declared.

Aomine went next. His shot landed in the basket seemingly effortlessly.

"Nice work Dai-chan. Ki-chan, you're up," the pinkette proclaimed.

Kise landed his shot too, although it was obvious that it took more effort for him than it did for Aomine.

"Nice shot! Next is-"

"Tetsu," Aomine interrupted. "This ought to be good."

Kuroko was nervous. Everyone was staring at him, and the basket seemed very far away. It didn't help that he was the shortest one either.

"You can do it Kurokocchi!" he heard Kise call out.

He shot. It landed nowhere near the basket. He could literally _feel _everyone turn their gazes from the ball to him.

"…Or not," Murasakibara commented.

"It's okay Tetsu!" He heard the girl call to him. "You're better in other areas."

"Want me to give you some pointers?" Kise asked. Without even waiting for a response, he walked over. "You can't just throw it straight at the hoop. It's more likely to go in if you shoot it in more of an arc pattern. You'll also probably want to stand on your tip-toes or jump since you're short. Here, watch me." Kise took the ball and got in his shooting position. "You shoot…like this."

Kuroko could only half focus. His mind was being pulled elsewhere.

_He saw three kids on a basketball court in what looked to be a park. There was a group of street thugs that appeared to be bothering them._

"_Come on, you've had enough," the bullies' ringleader said. "Give someone else a turn."_

"_But we just got here," the children protested. "Wait your turn."_

"_OUR turn? Why don't we settle this with some basketball."_

"_Who are those thugs?" The voice was Kise's._

_Kuroko watched them play for a while. There were more bullies than there were kids. It was hardly a fair fight. When one of them tried to complain, the bullies simply threw them to the ground and laughed._

_Kuroko couldn't take it anymore. "There's nothing fair about this," he said walking over to the bullies. "This isn't basketball. Basketball doesn't use violence."_

_They laughed. "Fine then. We'll play you instead."_

"_Mind if I play too?" Kise said coming up behind Kuroko. "Five on two should still be in your favor, even if we are closer to your age."_

_The bullies started with the ball, but somehow he quickly got it away from them and towards Kise, who easily made a basket. The game pretty much continued to follow that pattern. It was obvious the bullies didn't have much experience at basketball._

"_You're shooting is sloppy," Kise told them. "You shoot…like this."_

"Kurokocchi?" Kuroko was suddenly pulled back into the present. Kise's face was only inches away from his.

Startled and wanting to regain his personally space, Kuroko tried to pull back, only to end up overdoing and falling on the ground. _What was that? A memory?_

"Are you all right?" Kise looked worried. And very confused.

Just then the door to the gym swung open. A green haired male with glasses walked through the doorway.

"Looks like Midorin made it," Momoi declared.

_So this is Midorima._ Well, that was everyone on his contact list then. If he was going to recover his memories, it looked like basketball practice was going to be the best place to do so.

"Kuroko, did you fall again?" Midorima asked looking at him concerned. "If you're not feeling well, you should stay home and rest."

"I'm fine. I've already had plenty of rest. And I'd like to stay so…" "_So I can find more of my memories," _is what he wanted to say, but of course he couldn't tell them that. Not if what Kagami said was true.

"I understand. You just want to play basketball again, is that right?" Midorima said with a slight smile. "Then we will do everything we can to back you up. Just don't overdo it, okay?"

"Okay," Kuroko nodded back with a smile of his own. He went to pick himself up, but ended up tripping over a stray basketball. He was sure he was going to fall back to the floor, but he felt an arm catch him before that could happen.

"That was a close call, wasn't it," Kise said, helping Kuroko back to his feet. It made sense that Kise was the one to catch him, as he was the closest to Kuroko.

"Sorry." He was starting to feel like an invalid. It seemed like he couldn't do anything right.

"Just be more careful from now on," Kise said looking at him with concern.

"Right."

* * *

The rest of the practice passed without Kuroko falling down again or regaining any more memories. On his way back home, Kuroko chatted with Kagami about the events at practice.

"It looks like today went really well for you," Kagami said. "You even managed to get a memory back."

"Yeah," Kuroko replied. They'd reached his house. He went to the mailbox to see if there was anything there that required his attention. He was surprised to see a picture fall out when he opened the mailbox. He looked down at it. It was a picture of himself…with his face scribbled out.

"You're an eyesore," He turned in the direction of the voice. He saw a girl with short brown hair, and a blond haired girl with glasses.

"A backstabber," the blond replied. Judging from her voice, the brunette had made the earlier comment.

"You.." the brunette replied, crushing the picture under her shoe, "broke your promise, didn't you?"

Suddenly, Kuroko got the same disoriented feeling as when he experienced the memory with Kise. But this memory was quite different.

_He was under a streetlamp, which kept flickering as though it was going to go out any minute. The same two girls were there. The brunette had a knife, and was pointing it at him. He was terrified, afraid these girls were going to kill him._

He came back to the real world just as terrified. He couldn't focus and he couldn't breathe. Although no one was touching him, he had a feeling like he was suffocating. He could barely make out the figure of another woman approaching before he passed out.

* * *

**Author's note: A cliffhanger and some antagonists. I'm sure you can tell who the two girls are. I actually really like both of them, but I need some bad guys (gals actually) for this story so...please don't hate me!**

**I'd also like to point out that I usually won't update this fast, but I had part of this chapter already started and a lot of free time today. This is rare and not likely to happen often. But I was so pleased with all the follows and reviews I got that I decided I'd push myself to get this out ASAP. Thank you all so much!**

**In the next chapter you'll get to see Akashi! So while you're waiting, please review! Thanks!**


	3. Everything Leads to More Questions

Kuroko woke up in a panic. He turned frantically in every direction, expect to see the girls threatening him like he remembered.

"It's alright. They're gone now." He turned to see Kagami looking at him. "Some other lady showed up just as you passed out, and they took off." When Kuroko failed to give a response, Kagami continued. "You seemed to get pretty shaken up all of the sudden. Did you remember something?"

"Yeah." He told Kagami what he had remembered as he slowly made his way inside his apartment, with Kagami following him.

"That's…that's criminal!" Kagami exclaimed once they were inside and Kuroko had finished telling his tale.

"I know," Kuroko answered, adjusting his position on the living room chair. "But…if I really did break a promise to them, then perhaps they have reason to despise me."

"No they don't!" Kagami defended him. "You lost your memories; it's not your fault you couldn't keep your promise! And even if you were to ask them what your promise was, they'd probably take advantage of your memory loss and lie to you. This is all the more reason why we need to keep you're the fact that you have amnesia a secret. Your team members don't seem like bad people, but we don't really know what any of them are like. And now that we know someone is after you, there is extra risk that if you tell anyone, that information could make it back to them."

"I know," Kuroko answered. "I don't know what promise I made to them, but I broke it. And because of that, I either hurt them or broke their trust…"

"Those aren't the kind of people you should trust to begin with," Kagami tried to reason with him.

Kuroko decided to just drop the subject. It'd be better to wait until Kagami had calmed down a little before trying to bring it up again.

* * *

When Kuroko arrive for practice the next day, he found only Momoi and Midorima had arrived.

"Do you feel better today, Kuroko?" Midorima asked him.

"I do. Sorry for making you both worry. It might take me little while to be up to speed again but…"

"It's okay." Momoi declared. "We'll help you out."

Kuroko smiled his thanks at her when he noticed Midorima frowning. "There's something different about you," Midorima declared to the shorter male. "If you asked me what it was I couldn't tell you, but it definitely feels as though something about you has changed."

Kuroko was nervous. He thought people were finally starting to stop suspecting him, but it appeared Midorima was sharper than the others. Momoi saved him from replying. "Well, he's been spacing out a lot, but that's not too unusual for him so…" _Thank you Momoi!_ Kuroko tried to send his thoughts to her through sheer brainpower.

"That's true…" Midorima declared, although he didn't look convinced. But just as he finished speaking the others began filing into the gym, saving Kuroko from further interrogation.

"Now that everyone's here, I want to talk about the trip a little bit," Momoi stated. _Trip? What trip?_ Kuroko panicked. "It will be a three day – two night island stay," Momoi continued. "I thought it would be good for everyone to relax a little before we gear up for our next game."

"I'd rather kill time at home," Aomine declared.

"Aomine, don't be such a killjoy," Momoi pouted.

"Your cooking is going to kill us all!" Aomine argued back. Their arguing was drowned out as Kuroko was pulled into another memory.

_He and Aomine were sitting on a park bench. It was dark out, and Kuroko was listening to Aomine speak. "I…" Aomine started, "killed someone." _

He was pulled back into the present when he noticed Momoi's hand being waved back and forth in fromt of his face. "Tetsu-kun, what's wrong?" she asked him. "You don't look well."

"N-nothing," he answered far more shakily than he would have liked. "N-nothing at all." Momoi seemed to take his words at face-value as she continued talking about the trip, but he barely heard her.

"I hope it's not going to rain," Murasakibara spoke up. "Kuro-chin would be sad if it rained and he couldn't see it."

Kuroko hadn't really been paying much attention to the topic, but he found his attention forced back when Murasakibara referred to him. "See what?" he asked.

"What do you mean see what?" Aomine looked at him like he was insane. "You've been looking forward to this for weeks!"

"I have?" This wasn't good. Were they still talking about the trip? He didn't know.

"You said you wanted to see the meteor shower, didn't you Kuro-chin?" Murasakibara asked looking at him.

"Y-yeah, that's right," Kuroko said, deciding to just go along with it. "I must have forgotten."

"You've been forgetting too much lately," Murasakibara told him worriedly.

"According to the weekly weather report, it should be mostly clear," Midorima said.

"I'm sure it'll be beautiful!" Kise spoke up. "I'm can't wait for it," he said turning to smile at Kuroko. Kuroko aimed a small smile back at him.

"Hey," Murasakibara asked turning to Aomine and changing the topic, "are you all right with your classes? I heard you skipped again."

"None of your business."

"Midorimacchi is good at school," Kise declared. "You should have him help you."

I don't mind, but organize your questions beforehand," Midorima said pushing up his glasses. "That way, I won't waste my time teaching you what you already know."

"Guys this meeting is supposed to be about the trip!" Momoi complained. "We can yell at Aomine later. I wanted us to all spend some time together to improve our inter-team relations. We don't see each other outside of practice that often, after all. It will be good for us."

_I don't know if this trip is a good idea or not. I might help me regain more memories, but being with everyone for 3 days with no breaks might cause everyone to realize I have amnesia. I have a bad feeling about this…_

* * *

Kuroko talked about the day's events with Kagami on the way home.

"Are you going to be okay on this trip?" Kagami asked.

"I don't know. I think it may be inevitable that everyone thinks I'm acting weird."

"Just try to avoid having more contact with Midorima or Aomine than necessary. They sound like they suspect something," Kagami said. "It also might be a good idea to try and ask more questions that could give us hints about your memories.

"It would be nice if I knew what to ask…" Kuroko commented sadly.

"I'm sorry," Kagami suddenly said. "I said I'd do my best to help you, but I haven't really accomplished anything," he remarked sullenly.

"That's not true. It's a huge help having you here. I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't talk about this to anyone." It was true. Although he had practically just met Kagami, he already felt like a friend. He couldn't imagine trying to face all this by himself.

"I'm happy that you said that," Kagami said smiling faintly, seeming to be in better spirits. "But we still can't seem to recover any helpful memories."

"That's true," Kuroko said beginning to enter the crossswalk. He couldn't help smiling though at the fact that he didn't have to face this alone. Suddenly he heard a car horn blare loudly. He turned to see it coming straight for him, and it didn't look as though it was going to stop.

"Watch out!" Kagami yelled and move in from of Kuroko as though to shield him. Not that it would do any good. He had shut his eyes and braced himself for the impact when he felt an arm pull him back.

"The light is red." Kuroko turned to look at the speaker, who had just saved his life. It was a male about the same age and height as him, which was unusual considering he was so short. He had somewhat spiky red hair, and was smiling at Kuroko as one would an old friend.

"I'm sorry," Kuroko apologized.

"It's dangerous to space out like that. This has happened before too," the stranger said. _Before? Do I know him? _Kuroko couldn't remember, but that wasn't surprising. The stranger certainly seemed to know him though.

"You don't remember me, do you?" The stranger stated sadly. There was a pause. "Of course not," he seemed to say to himself with a sad smile on his face. "I'll let you be on your way then," he said and turned to leave in the opposite direction from Kuroko's home.

"Have you met him before?" Kagami asked watching him go. "I feel like he as some sort of connection with you."

Although Kuroko couldn't remember ever meeting that person before, he felt like he _should_ remember. When he'd looked at him, he couldn't help but feel the strangest sense of déjà vu. "Me too," he replied to Kagami's second question. "And I don't think this will be the last we see of him."

* * *

**Author's note: Sorry this chapter was so short. But we got to see Akashi finally, so you can forgive me, right? I'm not going to be able to update this fast again; the absolute earliest I could have the next chapter done by is late Wednesday, but even that is pretty unlikely. But I wanted to hurry up and get this chapter out so I could get all the important players introduced.**

**Next chapter...Kuroko gets a kiss! But I'm not telling who it's from. Feel free to guess in your reviews!**


	4. A Game of Basketball

**Author's note: While this update certainly feels like it was a long time coming compared to the last two, this is actually going to be a more normal update speed for me. I only have time to work on this story on my days off, but as they vary from week to week I can't give any set days to watch for updates. Hopefully this chapter makes up for the wait. I even have most of the next chapter done, so I should be able to get that chapter up before Easter. Enjoy the story!**

* * *

The train ride to their destination was pretty uneventful. Aomine slept through it, Murasakibara ate his way through a seemingly endless supply of sweets, Midorima spent it reading, Kise was on the phone with who knows who, and Momoi had headphones on and was listening to music the whole time. Kuroko settled for looking out the window and watching the scenery go past. After arriving, they went by boat to get to the island where they would be spending the next 3 days. They had barely set foot on the island though, before it started to rain.

"I thought you said it was supposed to be clear skies this weekend?" Aomine said turning to look at Midorima.

"That was the forecast last week. The weather can change rapidly and without warning though," Midorima replied calmly.

"Poor Kurocchi!" Kise replied. "It's really pouring out there."

"I think it will end soon," Momoi said, trying to be optimistic.

"How do you figure?" Murasakibara asked. "It doesn't look like it will…"

"Call it a women's intuition."

Kuroko watched the rain. It certainly didn't look like it would let up anytime soon. As he listened to the downpoor, he felt himself being pulled into another memory…

_He was walking under Modorima's umbrella during what appeared to be some sort of festival. He could hear the sound of chimes echoing from nearby merchants. His attention was drawn to Midorima though as addressed Kuroko:_

"_You told me to promise you just one thing."_

"It stopped raining." Midorima's voice pulled Kuroko back to the present.

"Wow! Just like Momoi said, the rain really stopped!" Kise happily shouted like a kid that had just been given candy.

"It stopped almost right after she said it…" Murasakibara said, looking at Momoi as if she were potentially dangerous. "That's kind of creepy…"

"It is not!" Momoi cried, indignant. "And now that it's cleared up a bit, a think we should take a walk to our lodgings. The exercise will be good for all of you."

Kuroko ended up walking close by Midorima. _What was the promise he mentioned?_ Kuroko wondered staring at him. Considering the last promise he had forgotten ended up making things rather bad for him, he really wanted to remember this one.

"What is it?" Midorima asked, picking up on Kuroko's staring. "Is there something on my face?"

"No, it's nothing."

"You look like you've been daydreaming."

"Well…" Kuroko remembered Kagami's advice to try asking questions that would lead to recovering more memories, so he decided to take a try at it. "As I was listening the rain earlier, I remembered the festival the two of us went to before," Kuroko said, hoping Midorima would be able to add more to the memory than the brief bit he was able to recall. "There were lots of chimes in the merchant stalls, and when it started to rain a little you let me under your umbrella."

Midorima looked very confused. "We were at a festival?" _He doesn't remember? Does that mean all these visions I've had aren't actually memories!?_

"We're here!" Momoi proclaimed standing in front of a rustic looking log cabin.

"From the looks of it, it appears Midorima doesn't know what you're talking about." Kagami decided to show himself again. All the memories you've recovered have been fragments, and there isn't anything connecting them. There doesn't seem to be any one person that sticks out in your memories either. I wonder what's going on?"

"I don't know," Kuroko replied, following the others inside.

* * *

After they had gotten their things situated inside, Momoi led them all outside again to a small basketball court near the cabin. "While we wait for the meteor shower to start, I thought we could get a little bit of practice in. We'll play round robin with three teams of two." She held up a small basket. "Everyone grab a slip of paper out of here. No peaking! Your partner is whoever has the same color as you. I'll take whichever color is leftover."

Aomine and Muraskibara had the same color, as did Kise and Midorima. "All right Tetsu-kun, looks like you're with me," Momoi said, waving the last paper in the basket triumphantly. "We'll let the other two teams play first. First team to ten points wins!"

"You take offense, I'll take defense," Muraskibara lazily suggested to Aomine.

"Obviously," Aomine replied. "There isn't any other formation."

"Looks like some people are blurting out their strategy." Midorima declared. "Don't underestimate us."

"Like I'd lose," Aomine declared.

"You sure talk big," Kise said, "but you should know that we don't plan on losing either."

"Well if you're both ready, then let the game begin!" Momi declared.

Aomine started with the ball and made an impressive fake to get past Midorima and score a basket. Midorima paid him back with a three pointer. Aomine had the ball again, but it was stolen by Kise who used the same fake as Aomine to get past Murisakibara and make a basket. "Use your own moves!" Aomine cried indignant. Kise just grinned. Aomine got the ball and made a basket past Kise's block. Kise had the ball next and tried to use the same fake as before, but Murasakibara was ready for it this time and easily knocked the ball away from Kise, allowing Aomine to score another basket.

"This game is pretty intense," Momoi said. "Six-five in Aomine's and Murasakibara's favor." Midorima went for a basket, but Aomine knocked the ball away from him where it was unluckily picked up by Kise, who copied Midorima's throw and made a three point basket. Aomine got the ball and made a basket past the double block of Kise and Midorima by shooting from behind the hoop. Kise had the ball again and went for the same shot Aomine had just done, but Murasakibara once again knocked the ball away. Aomine had the ball and went for the game winning basket, but Kise got the ball away in the same manner as Murasakibara had done, allowing Midorima to make the three point shot for the win.

"Midorima and Kise win!" Momoi declared.

"Rematch!" Aomine declared. "I refuse to accept this."

"We need a turn to play too!" Momoi told him. "You should practice harder next time instead of skipping half our practices to take naps."

Kuroko found his attention torn away from the two of them when Kagami spoke up. "That was pretty awesome. I'm glad we came after all."

"Me too. Thank you, Kagami."

"But I haven't done anything," Kagami said, looking slightly confused.

"If I were alone, I'm sure all of this would be impossible. You're being here is a real life-saver."

"Well, I'm glad I can help at little, at least. I'm happy I get to be with you too. I know getting your memories back is top priority, but I'm glad I've gotten to have all these experiences with you."

Kuroko was unable to reply as Momoi demanded his attention. "Hey, it's our turn now. Let's beat the crap out of them, okay?"

"Right."

Needless to say, Kuroko and Momoi got their butts kicked by both teams.

* * *

Once it was dark out, they started walking to a place where they would be better able to see the meteor shower. "They say that those who see the meteor shower will have wonderful memories etched into their hearts," Momoi said. "I can't wait to see it."

"How much further?" Murasakibara asked.

"Just a little bit," Momoi answered.

"You said that earlier," he complained

"This time I mean it."

"This ground is pretty uneven," Kagami said, eyes following the path of Kuroko's flashlight. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You tired really hard at basketball earlier, so I was worried you might have used up all your strength. But even though you didn't win, you're definitely improving."

"Thanks. I surprised myself a little when a managed to steal the ball."

"That was really impressive. And when you passed, it was almost like the ball disappeared for a second too. How'd you do that?"

"I don't know. I think it was just a lucky coincidence."

"What? There's no way that was just lu-" Kuroko turned to see why Kagami had stopped, and found Aomine waiting for him and the path. It appeared the others had gone ahead already.

"You're exhausted, aren't you?" Aomine asked.

"N-not really."

"Here. Give me your hand." Aomine held his hand out, but Kuroko pulled his own back. He couldn't help but think of the memory of Aomine he'd recently recalled.

"Come on, just give it," Aomine said, forcibly grabbing Kuroko's hand and causing him to drop his flashlight.

"I'm fine by myself," Kuroko said forcing himself out of Aomine's grip and setting a brisk pace to try and catch up to the others.

"You're not," Aomine declared. "There's something I want to ask you." Kuroko paused.

"Don't!" Kagami said. "I think being alone with him is a really bad idea right now! We don't know what he wants. You have to make up an excuse."

"W-we should hurry up and catch up to the others or they'll worry." Kuroko said trying to divert his attention. He made to star walking again, but without his flashlight he couldn't see where he was going, and he tripped on the uneven ground.

Aomine caught him before he could hit the ground. "That was dangerous!"

"I'm okay. I'm fine so…" The memory forced its way into Kuroko's thoughts again. _I…killed someone._ Kuroko had to get away. He bolted out of Aomine's grip and took off as fast as he could. He knew if he stayed on the main path Aomine would easily catch up to him as his longer legs enabled him to run faster, so he took off into the wooded area hopping the foliage would slow Aomine down if he chased after him.

"Not that way!" Aomine shouted before chasing afterhim. There was no one left to see the person that grabbed Kuroko's discarded flashlight.

"Now I have no choice," the person with mismatched eyes said. "I guess I should take this to them," he said as he swung the flashlight up to illuminate his face. No…it's no use," he said switching the flashlight off. "Because this is where he…" he let out a dark laugh.

Kuroko suddenly found he had no more ground to run on. He was falling. He looked up to see Aomine looking horrified at the top of the cliff. Kagami jumped off after him, and made as though to reach for him, but he had jumped much later than Kuroko had fell. It was then Kuroko had the horrible knowledge that he was going to die.

* * *

Kuroko awoke to find himself in a hospital room. He quickly bolted upright and began checking himself for injuries. He felt sore and had some scratches and bruises, but otherwise he appeared to be fine. He had no broken bones, which didn't make any sense to him. Hadn't he just fallen off a cliff?

His examination was interrupted when he heard someone call "I'm coming in," and open the door. It was Aomine. "You sure slept a lot. It's already ten." He said walking over to the bedside.

Kuroko looked at the digital clock on the wall to find it was indeed ten. But multi-purpose digital clock also revealed something far more troubling. The date was August first. _Have I been in a coma for almost a year!?_ That would make more sense considering he fell off a cliff. But then why would he still have the scratches and bruises?

"What are you spacing out for?" Aomine asked. "You're still half asleep aren't you? Here, I'll wake you up." Then Aomine did something Kuroko would never have predicted in a million years. He leaned over and kissed him.

* * *

**Author's note: You all thought Kuroko was going to get his kiss at the meteor shower didn't you? I bet no one saw this coming! Guessing he'd get a kiss from Kise was a good bet though; if I was a reader who didn't already know the script I would have voted for him too. **

**This also marks the first dimension jump, although Kuroko doesn't know it yet. W****ho do most of you prefer Kuroko with? I'm curious.**

**Next chapter...we get to see how this relationship works. Or doesn't work. Whichever.**


	5. What I can't remember

**Author's note: My internet data is almost gone, so this will likely be the last chapter I'll be able to post for at least a week. Sorry about that. If you aren't a fan of having Aomine with Kuroko don't despair, the others will get their chance soon enough. Either way, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Aomine had left briefly so Kuroko could get himself ready to go home. But all too soon he came back. "You're not going to get mad at me for entering without knocking first?" he asked walking over to Kuroko. "Are you still spaced out?"

"I'm fine. My injuries are still just a little sore," Kuroko replied. He found he had no idea how he was supposed to talk or act around him anymore. Even his earlier fear was replaced with pure shock.

"Did you take your pain medicine?" Aomine asked.

"Medicine?"

"How do you forget something you take every day? Hurry up and take it, idiot." _Every day? _Kuroko couldn't remember ever having taken medication since he first got his amnesia. _What's going on? Nothing is the way it was before._

* * *

Aomine walked Kuroko back to his apartment, and let himself inside. "Do you're injuries still hurt?" Aomine asked.

"No."

"If you fall, I'll carry you back to bed. So do your rehabilitation while I'm here."

"Okay."

"You should make yourself something to eat first."

Kuroko had only made it halfway to the kitchen when Aomine spoke up again. "If you don't feel well, say so. If something's wrong, we can go back to the hospital."

Kuroko couldn't help but remember Kagami's warning about hospitals. "I'm fine. I don't need to go to the hospital." Considering how much his world got turned upside down just form one stay, he was pretty sure he never wanted to see another hospital again.

As he was making vanilla shakes in the kitchen, he went over what he could remember. _I remember we all went on the trip, but what happened after that? We went to see the meteor shower, and then…I fell from the cliff._

"Hey." Kuroko turned to see Aomine pointing at the glass he was trying to fill. "You're spilling it." Kuroko looked and saw that his brief trip down memory lane had caused him to overfill the glass. He promptly went to clean it up. Aomine started and making a sandwich while he was doing that. "You haven't eaten anything since this morning, right? You should put some actual food in your stomach."

"Thanks." It wasn't long before the food was ready, and Kuroko had consumed it all in a manner of minutes. He really was hungry. When he had finished, Aomine spoke again.

"I have to go, but make sure you go to bed early tonight. I'll come back tomorrow."

"Huh?" Kuroko really wasn't sure he could handle that right about now.

"What's with the surprised look?"

"Um…"

"Never mind. I'll see you tomorrow." And with that, he left.

_Did I somehow lose my memories again? I remember I lost my memories and met Kagami. I thought I was starting to remember things again, but…was that a dream? Unless…is this the dream? _Kuroko pinched himself. _I guess not…this is reality._ Kuroko decided to just go to bed. He couldn't deal with any of this right now.

* * *

He awoke to someone ringing his doorbell. Repeatedly. He made his way over to the door and let Aomine in. "You were sleeping?" Aomine asked.

Kuroko thought the answer to that was rather obvious, so he decided to ignore it. "Good morning to you too," he said letting Aomine in.

"Today marks one year since we started dating," Aoimine brought up, seemingly out of nowhere. "I think we should do something to celebrate."

"Y-yeah, we should do something." Kuroko agreed, mostly because he was afraid that if he didn't, Aomine would take him back to the hospital.

"You forgot, didn't you?"

"Um…"

"I thought so."

"S-sorry."

"By the way, it's only been three months since we started dating," Aomine said.

"Huh!?"

"You've been doing your best to follow my lead since yesterday. But you can't hide it from me anymore. Your memories are gone, aren't they?"

_He figured it out!_ Kuroko was panicking. Aomine kept talking.

"When I kissed you in the hospital yesterday, you normally would have gotten embarrassed and flipped out. And it seems like you never know what I'm talking about when I talk to you. What's going on?"

"I don't know how to explain," Kuroko said, defeated. "I just didn't want to go back to the hospital so…"

"I understand. I promise I won't take you back to the hospital."

"R-really?" Kuroko couldn't believe his ears.

"Yes. So you don't need to hide anything from me anymore. It'd be stranger if you thought you could hide it. You may have lost your memories, but you're still the same idiot, idiot."

Kuroko wasn't really sure what to make of the fact that his supposed boyfriend seemed to have a habit of calling him an idiot, but he figured since he wasn't taking him to the hospital he could let it slide for now.

"Let's go out," Aomine said, abruptly changing the subject.

"Where to?" Kuroko asked, becoming immediately suspicious of hospitals.

"Just come."

Kuroko wasn't really up for an argument, and since he knew where the hospital was now, he figured he could ditch Aomine if they looked to be heading in that direction. He followed Aomine for a while, in the opposite direction of the hospital.

"You haven't called me by my name at all," Aomine stated after they had been walking for a while. "You've forgotten that too, haven't you? I guess I should explain everything from the start. My name's Aomine. We're childhood friends. And like I said before, we've been dating for three months. At Kuroko's lack of response, Aomine continued, "You really don't remember anything, do you? I hope that information dump gives you a push to getting your memories back."

They walked for a while longer before Aomine stopped in front of their school. "This is Teiko High School. We're both seniors here and we play on the basketball team together. I'll show you where all your classes are." Kuroko let Aomine show him in case those had changed as well, but they appeared to be the same. Aomine then led him to what looked to be a stage. "You also do magic tricks as a hobby. You were actually really terrible when you started, but you got to be okay at it after a while. I haven't gotten to see you do many performances, but the kindergarten kids seemed to like you. Do you remember any of this?"

Kuroko shook his head.

"Before your accident, you'd practice here twice a week. I'd try to watch every once in a while. You really looked like you were having fun. We talked here a lot afterwards. The first time I told you how I felt, and the first time I kissed you, were both here. Since then, I've kissed you countless times but…you can't remember."

Kuroko looked dejectedly at the floor. How was he supposed to respond to that? He didn't remember any of this. He suddenly felt very small and alone. He just wanted to go back home where he could try and sort this all out, and maybe get a small mental breakdown out of the way while he was at it.

Kuroko suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned to see Aomine leaning his face towards his. He was going to kiss him again. Still not sure how he felt about the idea of having Aomine for a boyfriend, Kuroko tried to back up out of his reach. Aomine merely tried again. Suddenly feeling some of his previous fear returning, Kuroko forcibly pushed Aomine away from him.

Aomine's face was filled with complete shock, but then it switched to…hurt. "I'm sorry. I won't do it anymore. I thought if I kissed you here you might remember something but…right now, I'm a stranger to you."

"I'm sorry," Kuroko said, not really sure why he was apologizing. The look on Aomine's face was just…it twisted something painful inside him.

"If you apologize like that to me, it'll just…" Aomine sighed, and changed the subject. "By the way, we have school tomorrow. I'll show you where the gym where we have our basketball practices is at." He started walking in the direction of the gym.

Not really sure what else to do, Kuroko followed him.

* * *

**Author's note: I just realized I wrote a whole chapter with only two characters. I did not think that would happen. I promise you'll get to see more than just these two next chapter. Hopefully I'll have it out by mid April. Until then, feel free to review.**


	6. About the accident

When they got to the gym, they found Momoi there as well. "You both look awful," she declared. "Is everything okay?"

"Not exactly," Aomine replied. "Tetsu has amnesia."

"What! Tetsu-kun, are you okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine," Kuroko said. He wasn't really, but he doubted either of them could do anything to fix it.

"This is Momoi," Aomine told Kuroko. "I probably should have asked you before telling her, but I thought it would be problematic if you had no one you could rely on when I'm not there. So sorry, I guess."

"How much have you forgotten?" Momoi asked. "Do you remember me?"

"He seems to have forgotten almost everything," Aomine replied for him.

"Well then shouldn't you be doing a better job at explaining everything to him?"

"I covered the basics. It would be better if he figured out the rest for himself."

"Here we go again," Momoi said before turning to Kuroko. "You've probably forgotten, but this guy has been like this since he was a kid."

"And you've always worried about him too much," Aomine shot back. "In any case, I need you to cover for Tetsu at practice since I won't be around tomorrow. I don't think he wants anyone else knowing he has amnesia."

"Of course. I have no problem helping my two favorite brothers out. You've both always been like family."

"Thank you for agreeing to cover for me," Kuroko told Momoi.

"Of course. But is it really okay for you to be at practice tomorrow?" she asked.

"I'll be fine."

"Wanting to keep his memory loss a secret is one thing," Momoi said turning back to Aomine, "but you did take him to the hospital right? Didn't they tell him to take some time to rest?"

"There's no guarantee Tetsu's memories will return even if he does rest."

"If Tetsu-kun is okay with it, I guess I can't stop you. But if something happens, I blame you," she said glaring at Aomine. "I need to get back home. I'll see you at practice tomorrow," she said turning to Kuroko. And with that she left.

"I should probably take you back home too," Aomine told Kuroko. "You're going to have a long day ahead of you tomorrow." The two of them set off for Kuroko's house.

* * *

"You don't even remember the accident?" Aomine asked after they had been walking for a while. "Or why the accident happened?"

"I sort of remember," Kuroko said.

"Do you remember why you fell?"

"I think I fell off a cliff."

"I see." They resumed walking in silence.

_Was Aomine there when the accident happened? Everything I thought happened before yesterday might just be a dream. _

"Tetsu…" Aomine said suddenly.

"What?"

Aomine looked like he really wanted to say something, but he ultimately decided against it. "Nothing. Never mind."

_What were you going to say?_ Kuroko wondered.

When he got home Kuroko opened up a notebook and wrote the events of the past two days in it. He wanted some proof that what was happening to him was real, in case he lost his memories again.

* * *

Aomine walked him to school the next day. He mentioned he would have to miss practice due to having to make up a test he apparently skipped out on, but he said he would walk Kuroko home again after practice was finished.

Momoi was in the gym when Kuroko arrived, along with Murasakibara. "Kuro-chin, you're back!" The giant proclaimed cheerfully. "It doesn't look like you have much more than a couple of scratches. That's good."

Midorima filed in next. "Oh, Kuroko, you're back. It's been awhile. Are you okay?"

"Yes. Sorry to worry you."

Kise came through the door just as Kuroko finished speaking. "You're really had it rough, haven't you Kurokocchi? But you're looking better than expected, so that's good! I haven't gotten to see or talk to you since the accident, so I was worried."

Kuroko still wasn't exactly sure if the accident was the same one he thought he remembered. When he told Aomine, he'd neither confirmed nor denied it. Maybe if he tired bringing it up again, someone else could shed more light on it. "About the accident…I fell from a cliff, right?"

"Huh?" Murasakibara asked. "Didn't Aomine tell you anything?"

"Not really." He watched them all exchange a look with each other.

"Then I guess I'll tell you everything I know about that day," Midorima declared. "We all were on island trip which was suggested by Momoi in an effort to boost team morale. When it got dark, Aomine, who was out with you at the time, came back looking rather pale and said you fell from a cliff and he didn't know where you were."

"Wait, came back where? I thought we were all going to see the meteor shower?" Kuroko questioned.

"What are you talking about?" Midorima asked. "There were no meteor showers scheduled to occur during our stay. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah…sorry. I think I dreamed that part." _Our memories don't match. Again._

"Anyway, we all went out to look for you," Momoi said. "There was one other person that happened to be staying there that helped us too. I can't remember his name, but I think he said he was the captain of the Generation of Miracles, whatever that is."

_This doesn't match either. I thought we were the only ones there. _

"After we all looked for about an hour, we found you collapsed at the bottom of the cliff," Murasakibara supplied.

"But honestly, Aomine was acting pretty scary when we found you," Kise added. "Well, maybe not scary exactly, but he was weirdly calm about the whole thing."

"It was rather strange. Any bystander would have thought Kise was your boyfriend instead with the way he was running around like a chicken with his head cut off," Midorima added.

"I thought Kurokocchi was dead!" Kise tried to defend himself.

"The fall wasn't nearly high enough to kill him," Midorima deadpanned.

"Yeah, well, I know that NOW."

_This doesn't match either. That cliff was more than high enough to finish me off. What's going on?_

* * *

Kuroko thought about what he had learned as he walked himself home. _The trip was real, but the part about seeing the meteor shower was different. And so was the height off the cliff. I wonder if the reason why I fell off in the first place is the same…._

Kuroko heard the warning alarms indicating a train was coming through as the bars went down across the road, so he stopped to wait for it to cross. He couldn't help but notice the other person waiting as well. They were short, with slightly spikey red hair. _Is this the same person that saved me from the car before?_

"Um, excuse me," Kuroko called to him. They turned, and Kuroko could see that it was indeed the same person as before.

"To think that you'd stop to talk to me," the stranger stated. "I'm honored." He said with a small smile. It's been awhile. Unless…is this our first meeting?" He paused to think for a moment. "No, I'm pretty sure we met at the island this time. Are your injuries all right?"

_So he was the other person who was there. He helped look for me. But I don't remember meeting him on the trip. And he doesn't appear to remember saving me from the car._

At Kuroko's lack of response to his question, the stranger tried again. "Your injuries. From the accident…" he trailed off, almost as though he was unsure of what he was saying.

"Yeah." The stranger seemed to brighten up at this and he start talking to Kuroko again, but his words were drowned out by the roar of the train as it went past. Kuroko couldn't make out what he was saying. He did however, feel himself being suddenly being pulled backwards.

"What do you think you're doing!" Kuroko was able to make out the voice of the person shouting just as the noise from the train began to die down. He turned to see Aomine holding on to him. "When I went to pick you up, they said you already left! It's dangerous to go off by yourself in your state!" Aomine scolded him. "What if something happened?"

"I'm sorry. I forgot." Kuroko turned back to the person he was talking with earlier, only to find they were already gone.

"You…" Aomine started. "Whatever. Let's just get you home. It'll be dark soon."

They walked for a while before Aomine noticed he was tiring and made him stop and rest at a park bench for a bit. It appeared practice had taken more out of him than he thought. They sat in silence for a while before Kuroko found it unbearably awkward and decided to chance a conversation.

"It's cool for August, isn't it?" Kuroko mentally smacked himself. The weather was the subject you bring up when you have nothing else in common to talk about. Surely this wasn't going to do anything to repair whatever relationship it was they had. It might even make it worse. He could have at least tried talking about basketball first.

"The weather station said we may be getting some abnormal weather," Aomine replied, as though this was a perfectly normal subject to bring up with your boyfriend.

"I wonder if we'll get a bad storm or something." He smacked himself again. This conversation was going nowhere.

"It's not unlikely." They lapsed back into silence before Aomine spoke up again. "Do you remember your first performance?" Kuroko shook his head. "I said terrible things to you afterwards," Aomine continued. "Like 'what kind of performance was that? Do you even want people to see it?' and 'You were so quiet that nobody could hear you.' I was really preaching. I made you cry." Aomine looked over at Kuroko. "I still say mean things sometimes, but now that I think about it, having no memories is has to be far more difficult for you to deal with than I thought. I'm sorry." He aimed a lopsided smile at Kuroko.

_He's trying. I know I have to be nothing but a burden to him right now, but he's trying to make things better between us in his own way. It's more than I've been doing. If only I had my memories back…_ He wasn't going to get that by just sitting there though. He decided he should ask Aomine about what he heard at practice. "Um…can I ask you about the accident?" Kuroko asked him.

"What do you want to know?"

"Why did I fall off the cliff? What was I doing there?"

Aomine remained silent for a long time and Kuroko thought he wouldn't answer, but eventually he spoke. "I'm sorry. It was my fault. I hurt you."

"What do you mean?" Kuroko asked, feeling the fear start to flood back.

"The accident…" Aomine trailed off. "I'm sorry. I haven't sorted out my feelings about it yet. I don't have the confidence to tell you about it calmly." He dug his nails into his palms. "In any case, it was my fault. That's all I can say right now. I'm sorry. Forgive me."

_How am I supposed to forgive him when I don't even know what he did. Did he __**push**__ me off the cliff?_ That would make sense with Aomine's own testimony, and it would explain why everyone else thought he was acting weird. Kuroko could feel a panic attack coming on. He wanted to run. To get as far away from Aomine as possible. Just as he bolted upright, he heard a voice:

"**Can…hear…?"** _Kagami!_ He hadn't seen him since he fell off the cliff. Come to think of it, Kagami went off the cliff too. Was he okay?

"…**you…voice?" ** It was so faint Kuroko could barely hear it.

"Kagami!" Kuroko called out to him. But no matter which way he turned, he was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

**Author's note: I'm not too happy with the ending of this chapter, but I wanted to get it out ASAP so I guess it'll do. And just like I promised, all the other important players showed up this time, if only briefly. So that's something.**

**Also, I read somewhere that Midorima, Murasakibara, and Kise have siblings. But I can't find out anything about them, not even their names, genders, if they're younger or older than them, etc. If anyone can find out anything further on this, I'd really appreciate it if you'd let me know. Thank you!**


	7. What Really Happened

**Author's note: So I finally got this chapter out. ****Also two of the USB ports on my computer crashed, but it's still under warranty so it's getting shipped to Texas for fixing. It'll probably be at least two weeks before I get it back. As such I have the next chapter already written and uploaded to this site as a docX file so it's ready to be added any time. I'll probably post it some time between the 23rd and the 28th. I'm hoping to have my computer back before May, so I should be able to get the following chapter done shortly after that if all goes well.**

**Okay, you can go read the chapter now.**

* * *

"Is everything okay?" Aomine asked.

_Kagami. Where are you? I can't hear you very well._ Kuroko tried to send his thoughts mentally so as to not to have to deal with Aomine, but it didn't seem to be working. He still couldn't see any sign of the spirit. In addition, Kuroko could no longer hear Kagami's voice, which was causing him to become extremely worried. It was unlike Kagami to have been quiet for this long as it was.

"Tetsu, what's wrong?" Aomine asked again picking up on his change in mood.

"Nothing." _Well you see, there's this guy trapped in my soul that only I can see or hear…_ Yeah, explaining that was not going to go over well. Aomine would definitely think he had lost it and drag him back to the hospital despite his earlier promise. He needed to get home and get rid of Aomine so he could try talking to Kagami again. "I want to go home."

"Okay." Aomine still looked like he wanted to say something, but he moved off the bench nevertheless. "I'll take you home."

Kuroko spent the whole walk straining his ears for any sound of Kagami, but he couldn't detect the spirit's voice at all. Aomine was silent for the remainder of the trip, for which he was grateful. It wasn't long before they arrived at Kuroko's house. "Thanks for brining me home," Kuroko said, hoping Aomine would take the hint and not invite himself in again.

"I need to be heading home myself. But are you sure everything's okay? If something's wrong you can talk to me." Aomine told him, still looking concerned.

"I'm fine." The words came out harsher than he intended, and Aomine flinched.

"Tetsu…what _**am**_ I to you right now?" Aomine asked staring at the ground. "I know viewing me as your boyfriend is out of the question for you at the moment, but I thought you could at least consider me a friend. But with how you've been acting, I'm not so sure about that anymore. Am I nothing but a nuisance to you?" Aomine asked looking back up at him.

Kuroko remained silent. He was getting that awful twisting feeling in his gut again, like he had just done something very, very wrong. But he wasn't sure how to answer the question. Was Aomine a nuisance? Currently, yes, but that wasn't the case most of the time. And Aomine was correct when he said Kuroko couldn't acknowledge him as his boyfriend for the time being. But could he consider him a friend? Kuroko couldn't say for certain, but he figured if he kept feeling the need to run away from him, then probably not. He was drawn out of his musing when Aomine started talking again.

"I know I'm probably not being fair to you in dealing with this," Aomine stated, "but I don't want to go back to being just like a sibling again. We finally started dating, and we built up a relationship. I know it's not your fault you lost your memories but…I know that but…" it seemed as though he was struggling with the words. "I can't," he said walking away from Kuroko and back towards his own house. "I can't go back to the way things were."

_The fact that my memories haven't returned is hurting Aomine. I wonder why he can't tell me about the accident. Is there a reason he can't say?_ Kuroko watched him until he was out of sight, the twisting in his gut becoming physically painful to the point he was sure this was what it must feel like when someone's appendix was about to burst. Maybe his pain meds would help. He went inside and took them along with a full glass of water, but two hours later the gut wrenching feeling was only getting worse. He'd had no luck in contacting Kagami either. Kuroko lay very still on his couch and tried not to move. It would be long into the night before sleep finally claimed him.

* * *

Aomine didn't come to walk him to school the next day, even though Kuroko waited for a good 15 minutes past when he usually arrived. Because of that, Kuroko ended up making it to school late. The pain in his gut was still there, but it had faded into a dull ache. The pain meds he took in the morning didn't seem to have much effect on it. Kuroko wasn't able to focus on any of his classes, and he was dreading seeing Aomine at basketball practice. He seriously considered skipping, but knew that he wouldn't be able to avoid Aomine forever, and decided he would rather get the confrontation out of the way quickly. Besides, having other people there would hopefully lessen the feeling of danger he seemed to get every so often around Aomine.

Aomine wasn't at practice. "I can't believe he skipped," Momoi huffed angrily. "I told him to be here for the meeting."

"What meeting?" Kuroko asked.

"Well since our last team bonding trip ended with disaster, I thought we'd try again," Momoi explained. "I wanted Tetsu-kun to have a better experience than what he got," she said, looking apologetically at Kuroko. "We don't have enough funds left for anything as extravagant as last time, but I figured we can still have some fun close to home. I thought we could all go to the park tonight and maybe light some fireworks, shoot some hoops, tell scary stories, that sort of thing."

"That's a great idea! Let's do it," Kise declared.

"I have no objections," Midorima replied.

"As long as I can eat sweets, I don't care," Murasakibara said lazily.

"It sounds like it could be fun," Kuroko answered.

"Then it's settled! We just need to call the knucklehead." She took out her phone and began dialing. "Good, he picked up. Here," she said thrusting the phone at Kuroko, who had no choice but to take it.

"I can't come to practice Satsuki, I'm busy." Kuroko could hear Aomine's voice on the line.

"Um…" Kuroko wasn't really sure how to start this conversation. He was pretty sure talking to him over the phone before seeing him in person was going to make everything worse than it needed to be.

"Huh? Tetsu?" Aomine sounded confused. "Why do you have Momoi's phone?"

"Um, it turns out we're all going to the park tonight, so I was wondering if you were going to come."

There was a long pause before Aomine answered. "I can't. I have too much schoolwork to make up."

"R-really?" Kuroko wasn't sure if this was a good or bad thing.

"I told you. I can't." The aching feeling in Kuroko's gut was starting to intensify.

"You're right. Sorry." The line went dead. He handed the phone back to Momoi.

"Is he coming?" she asked him.

"No. He said he had schoolwork to make up."

"_**LIES!**_" she declared. "He never does his coursework. I'm seriously going to go over there and-"

"That's strange," Midorima interrupted her. "It's unusual for him to turn down a direct invitation from you," he said glancing at Kuroko. "Did something happen?"

"I…"

"_**Midorin!**_" Momoi whirled around to glare at Midorima, and Kuroko swore she was going to slap him. "Do NOT pry into their personal life," she ordered. The 'or else' was clearly implied.

"You're right. I apologize," He said turning to Kuroko. "It's not my place to ask."

"Enough of this," Momoi declared. "Back to basketball." And thus the actual practice began.

* * *

Kuroko assumed the park would be the one he and Aomine had stopped to rest at yesterday, and he was proven correct. Everyone else was already there.

"All right," Kise said, "let's start with the rockets."

"Why are we _starting_ with the rockets?" Momoi asked. "Shouldn't we save those for the end?"

"I thought we should start with a blast." Kise smiled winningly. "Maybe we can set up some handheld fireworks around the rockets." He began digging through the box that Momoi had brought.

"That's dangerous!" Momoi quickly went to chase Kise away from the fireworks.

"I thought I came to watch fireworks, but it appears it's turned into babysitting," Midorima sighed. His face was making the funniest expression, and Kuroko almost laughed.

"I want to light some rockets!" Kise declared, running around with the few he had managed to snag from the box.

"Ki-chan, wait!" Momoi shouted close behind him.

"Hurry up and do something, they're giving me a headache," Murasakibara complained.

"I suppose I'd better oversee things," Midorima declared slowly making his way towards the two of them. "Try not to light the whole place on fire with the matches," he called after them. "And both of you need to stop shouting."

"I'm going to light one!" Kise declared.

"Don't you dare!" Momoi shouted.

"Midorima…" Murasakibara complained again, putting his hands over his ears.

"Kise, give me that before you kill yourself," Midorima told him.

"Relax Midorimacchi!" Kise shouted while skillfully evading him.

Kuroko couldn't but smile at their antics. He heard footsteps behind him, and turned to see someone approach him. "Aomine…" He thought he said he wasn't coming.

"Should I not have come?" Aomine asked, stopping to stand in front of him. His face was unreadable.

"It's not that…" Kuroko trailed off.

"Come with me for a second." The simple sentence was already making Kuroko panic a little, but he tried to squash it down. He had the feeling that if he refused, the damage could be irreparable. The others were so distracted with Kise and his rockets that he didn't even think they knew Aomine was here. It wasn't like he could use them as an excuse.

"O-okay." Aomine led him a ways away from the others. Kuroko forced himself keep walking despite the warning bells in his head.

Aomine suddenly stopped in front of a large tree in a small wooded area. "About the accident…" Aomine started. "You really don't remember?"

"N-no." Kuroko's whole body was telling him to run. _I killed someone_ kept repeating over and over in his head. That might be why he didn't react in time to avoid having Aomine pin him to the tree.

"Then pretend this is the same woods as on the island and listen to me," Aomine ordered. "You might remember something. We were able to be alone that night, like we are now. I confronted you about choosing to have your own room in the cabin. 'Why do you want your own room? You should be sharing with me, your boyfriend.' Then you said, 'We didn't come here to do _that_, everyone else is here too.' Do you remember?"

Kuroko was frozen in pure terror. He couldn't speak, let alone will his body to run away. He could barely breathe.

"Nothing at all?" Aomine frowned before continuing. "You said, 'why do you always say things like that? You must enjoy embarrassing me.' I don't enjoy it. I was seriously inviting you. 'Do you really think of me as your boyfriend? Do you still only see this as a vacation?' I wouldn't let it go." Aomine shifted his hands so they were pining Kuroko by his sides rather than his shoulders. He moved his face dangerously close.

"I-I w-want-t t-to g-go b-back-k n-now-w." He stuttered his way through the sentence. He was terrified. He couldn't breathe. He felt dangerously close to blacking out.

"Wait-"

"_**NO!"**_ Kuroko tried to run away, but Aomine grabbed him before he had gotten more than a few steps.

"You don't have to be afraid of me. I haven't done anything to scare you." Aomine's face looked slightly hurt. _He's lost it. He's lost it and I'm going to die. I'm going to die or worse. _Aomine kept talking. "You ran off like you did now, and fell from the cliff. You were hurt. And it was all my fault. For some reason, I felt like I needed to rush things. I blocked your escape, hoping you'd acknowledge me as your boyfriend right then. I was greedy." He let go of Kuroko. "Yesterday was the same. It took so long before it felt like we were really going out, and just when I had thought we had moved past just being friends, this happened."

"A-Aomine…"

"I'm sorry. This isn't really the time to be thinking about this. I know you're going through a lot more than I am right now. I should be the one protecting you this time." His face changed to one of self-loathing. I feel so pathetic. Even though you supported me when I was about to break…"

"Huh?"

"You…saved me."

"I did?" Kuroko found the will to run was slowly leaving him. The fact that we wasn't pinned to a tree or being held in a vice grip anymore probably helped with that. Instead, he just felt drained. Like he could sleep for a week straight. His mind was going blissfully numb.

"You don't remember that either…" Aomine's voice was tinged with sadness.

Suddenly Kuroko heard the sound of fireworks, and he could see the sky fill with color beyond the trees. It appeared Kise had gotten a rocket off after all. They both stopped to watch until the sight and sound had faded.

"Sorry. I'll take you back to the others now," Aomine said. They'll probably start worrying about you soon."

Once again, Kuroko followed him.

* * *

**Author's note: ****Next chapter we learn what Aomine was talking about when he said Kuroko saved him. Like I said, it'll probably be out between the 23rd and 28th. We're almost at the end of this pairing for now. I worry that if I stick with one pairing for too long, those who aren't a fan of it will get bored. So if you don't like this pairing don't worry, somebody else gets a chance soon. Any guesses on who it is? Tell me in you reviews.**


	8. You saved me

"There you are Tetsu-kun!" Momoi exclaimed happily once they returned. "And Dai-chan! I'm glad you decided to come after all. I told Ki-chan to wait before setting off the fireworks but…" Momoi shrugged as if that explained everything. "Anyway, Midorin has most of the rest of them set up. You two should find a good spot where you can watch them. I'm going to go see how Midorin is doing." And with that, she took off.

The two of them sat at the bench where they had rested at earlier on in the day. "I bet the fireworks will be entertaining," Kuroko said, wanting to fill the silence before it could start.

"I don't see then fun in them. But then, you've always liked these kinds of things," Aomine said to Kuroko. "And I don't mind watching you enjoy them."

"Earlier, you said I saved you," Kuroko said, changing the subject. "What did you mean by that?" Aomine let out a long sigh and closed his eyes. He was silent for a long time and it appeared he wouldn't answer. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want," Kuroko stated, "I just-"

"No. You should know. Just give me a minute." Aomine remained silent for a while longer, before speaking again. "My father…killed someone."

Kuroko froze. The words were almost exactly the same as the ones in his memory. And the setting matched exactly. The two were so very similar, and yet there was the one difference that changed everything.

"What is it?" Aomine asked. "Did you remember something?"

"N-no." _My memory was wrong. Again. Aomine didn't kill anyone. _He couldn't explain how he knew this with such certainty, but he just _knew._ And that made a lot of his earlier actions towards Aomine come back to slam him like a ton of bricks.

"A drunk picked a fight with my father," Aomine said, continuing the conversation. "My father pushed him away, but in his state the drunk couldn't control his fall, and ended up in the street where he was run over. My father always thought he'd done a terrible thing to the man and his family." Aomine paused for a bit before continuing. "I was only a kid at the time. I didn't understand why people were calling my father a murder. After that day, people looked at me differently. People distanced themselves from me and my family. But despite that, you and Satsuki didn't change. If you two hadn't been there for me, I don't think I'd have been able to reconnect with anyone ever again."

As he finished speaking, the sky exploded in all sorts of brilliant colors. The fireworks were starting. They paused their conversation to watch them. The fireworks only lasted for a few minutes before they was over. Despite that, Kuroko still thought they were beautiful.

"I'm grateful to you," Aomine said after a few moments had passed.

"Why?" Kuroko asked. "I just did what any friend would have done."

"No. You kept trying to get me to connect with others again. I had given up. You two forced me into basketball. To be honest, I was kind of a jerk about it at the time, but now I'm glad you did. It was you who showed me that giving up and surrendering to misfortune was just running away. So…I won't give up anymore. Not on me, or on us either."

"Aomine…Thank you for telling me." Kuroko wanted to say so much more than that. I'm sorry. I was wrong about you. Please forgive me. But he found the words were inadequate to express what he truly wanted to say, and the moment was soon interrupted as everyone else made their way over.

"Hey! Come join the rest of us!" Momoi shouted frantically waving at them.

"I suppose we should," Aomine said moving towards the others, and Kuroko followed suit.

"Uh oh," Kise this time. "I think I dropped it."

"Dropped what?" Kuroko asked.

"The spinner," Kise said, pointing sheepishly to the spinning ball of fire heading towards Kuroko's feet.

Kuroko tried to get himself safely out of range, but he needn't have worried as Aomine stepped between Kuroko and the little ball of fire and gave it an admirable soccer kick straight for Kise's face. Thankfully, Kise managed to dodge it. Muraskibara found the whole exchange rather funny, and was trying not to make his smirking to obvious.

"What was that for!" Kise shouted indignant. "I could have died!"

"It wouldn't have killed you, and if you couldn't doge that you'd deserve to get hit with it anyway," Aomine declared. "Besides, it's your fault it almost hit Tetsu."

"S-sorry Kurokocchi…" Kise apologized sheepishly.

* * *

It wasn't long before everyone began to head home. Kuroko walked with Aomine and Momoi. "It's been a long time since we all lit fireworks together," Momoi stated. "It felt just like when we were kids."

"Except then we didn't have to deal with Kise," Aomine deadpanned.

"You shouldn't have done that. He said he was sorry." Momoi lectured him.

"Yeah, _after_ I kicked it at his face."

Kuroko was pulled into his thoughts._ I had fun. I want to keep these memories. I don't want to lose them again. But how come the few memories I thought I recovered don't match? Is it actually possible for me to recover any of my memories? And if not…_he was awoken from his musings when he bumped into Aomine who had stoped walking. "Sorry…"

"Do you remember this place?" Aomine asked. Kuroko looked. They were on a bridge, and it looked like a small river ran under it. He shook his head.

"We used to play here a lot when we were kids," Momoi said. "We used to call it 'crayfish park' or something like that."

"That's right." Aomine said. "There were a lot of crayfish here at one time, so we started calling it that."

"Now that I think about, someone must have released them here," Momoi stated. "There were so many. I remember we tried to take some home and our parents yelled at us to put them back." She smiled fondly.

"I bet our moms were just scared of them," Aomine declared.

"I know mine was," Momoi said.

Kuroko let out a small laugh at picturing their parents freaking out.

"I'd like to give these memories back to you, little by little," Aomine told Kuroko.

"That's awfully generous of you Dai-chan," Momoi teased him.

"Shut up."

"Well, lucky for you this is where I split off. Be sure you home safe. Bye guys!" With that, Momoi left.

"We need to get you home too," Aomine told Kuroko.

"Can you wait a minute?" Kuroko asked. He took a good long look at the river again and tried to will the memories associated with it to surface, but with no luck.

"I'm always saying terrible things and acting forceful, but I'll always protect you." Aomine's voice interrupted Kuroko's efforts. "I promised myself I'd never hurt you again."

"Aomine…Thank you." Kuroko said. "After losing my memories, I didn't know what to do. I was so confused about everything. And when you told me out of nowhere that we were dating…I didn't know if I could believe you. The truth was I didn't believe it. But now…now I believe you. And I'm sorry for the way I've treated you up until now." Kuroko tried to give the apology that he'd wanted to earlier. It still felt terribly inadequate, but it was the best he could do with the limitations of the words.

"It's alright. I don't blame you for not believing me. If the situation was reversed, I probably wouldn't have believed you either. Just don't force yourself," Aomine stated before switching to a slightly different topic. "It took some time for you to agree to go out with me once I confessed to you. And I know I'm probably pushing things right now, but I'm going to ask you again. Go out with me. I can't go back to being just friends anymore."

Kuroko couldn't help but think back to his earlier analysis on the subject. Before, he was unable to even consider Aomine a friend. But now, he knew the reason that he was afraid of him was due to a faulty memory. All things taken into account, Kuroko considered Aomine a friend now. But a boyfriend…

"Go out with me," Aomine tired again. "I'll make you forget the distance between us in no time."

"But…I still don't really know you…very…" Kuroko tried to stall.

"That's fine," Aomine interrupted him. "Actually, that was the same answer you gave me the first time I asked you out. But I don't care." And just like that time in the hospital room, Aomine leaned down and kissed him.

Kuroko's thoughts were scattered all over the place. He wasn't afraid this time, which he supposed was an improvement. But it didn't feel like some perfect fairytale kiss either. Actually, if he was being honest, it kind of hurt a little. Aomine was being rather forceful.

"…That hurt," Kuroko said once the kiss had ended.

Aomine let out a small laugh. "Sorry," he apologized, before giving Kuroko another softer, much more gentle kiss. It wasn't nearly as long as the previous one. "I'm going to show you I'm serious, starting today. You'll never know when I'm going to kiss you. So stay sharp, idiot."

"That's not fair." Kurko was upset to find that his voice came out like he was _pouting. _He had meant to sound more stern. Shouldn't he have more of a say in this?

"It's late. I need to head home, and you should to. I'll see you tomorrow," Aomine told him.

"Bye. See you tomorrow." Kuroko watched him until he was out of sight before continuing the trek towards his home. _I want to get back the memories that I lost. For both my sake and Aomine's. _Kuroko was crossing the street when he noticed a shooting star fall past. He got the same feeling as when he had been pulled into his previous memories. But this memory had no scenery, he could only hear a voice: _I wished upon a shooting star…_ the voice was Kise's. He was immediately pulled back into the present by the sound of a car horn blaring. He turned to see it heading straight for him. It appeared Kuroko had been too distracted by the memory to finish crossing the street. He braced for impact, distantly hoping he would be rescued again, but knowing no one else was close by. He was going to die.

* * *

Kuroko woke up in his room with the feeling that something was not quite right. He wasn't supposed to be here. There was something important he should be remembering. But whatever it was succeeded in eluding him. He gave up on trying to get a grasp on it when he heard his phone ringing. He moved to answer it. It showed the call was from Kise.

"Hello?" Kuroko answered the call.

"Ah, you finally picked up. It's me. Since twe don't have school today, want to go out somewhere? We have a lot of time, so we can go anywhere you want."

"Um…" Kuroko was pretty sure that he was missing something important in this conversation, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

"I'll be at your house in half an hour. Bye!" He hung up before Kuroko had a chance to protest. As Kuroko ended the call on his end, he noticed something that made his blood freeze. The date on his phone showed August 1st. And then, Kuroko remembered what had felt so very wrong about waking up in his room.

He immediately ran to the notebook he had recorded in after the first time this had happened, but when he opened it he found it to be blank. _What's going on!?_

His phone rang again, and he answered it half dazed. "Hey, are you all right Kurokocchi? You sounded like you weren't feeling well. If you're sick we can just hang at your place…"

"I'm fine," Kuroko answered, although he wasn't. "I just woke up so…"

"Really? If that's all it is then. I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"O-okay." _This is NOT okay!_

"I'll see you soon!" Kise overly cheerful voice said through the phone.

"Alright," Kuroko said before hanging up. Something was very, very wrong. But first, he needed to get himself ready to face whatever it was before Kise got here.

* * *

Twenty minutes later Kuroko walked out of his house to see Kise waiting for him…while surrounded by a mob of fangirls. Kuroko couldn't help but notice two of them in particular. They were the same two who cornered him by his mailbox that one day.

Kise finally seemed to notice Kuroko was there, and made to dismiss his following. His fangirls however, were having none of it.

"Kise, don't leave," the blond woman he recognized from earlier begged.

"I already have plans today," Kise said trying to placate her. "I have to go."

"No you don't," Her brunette friend spoke up.

"I really do…" Kise tried. It took another good half an hour of convincing before he finally got the mob to leave.

"Sorry," Kise apologized. Upon Kuroko's lack of response, Kise frowned, concerned. "Is something wrong? You're not jealous, are you?" Kise tried to tease him.

"H-huh?"

"I guess even Kurokocchi can get jealous. I wasn't trying to make you jealous though. To make up for it, I'll honor one request from you. Anything you want. And I mean _anything._ What do you want me to do?"

_W-what's with Kise? Could it be…is this…how can…?_ Kuroko's thoughts were jumping all over the place. He was briefly distracted from his jumbled thought process when he noticed a woman with long black hair approach the two of them.

"I'm sorry," the woman apologized, "but do you mind?" Kuroko couldn't tell if she was speaking to one or both of them.

"Araki Masako…" Well, it appeared Kise knew her, at least. But then, Kuroko wouldn't be surprised if Kise knew every female in the whole country with the way they all hung around him.

Then woman briefly glanced at Kuroko, and he froze. He felt the weirdest sense of déjà vu.

* * *

**Author's note: For those who don't remember who Araki Masako is, she's Yosen's coach in the anime. This marks the 2nd alternate reality jump and the start of a new pairing. Kise fans rejoice! I should have the next chapter out withing a week. It'll have lots of Kise, obviously. Until then, please review!**


	9. Reality

**Author's note: In this chapter Kuroko actually gets half a clue as to what's going on. So that's good. I really appreciated the reviews I got last chapter. Especially since I didn't get any in the chapter before that. Next chapter should be out in a little over a week. Not much else to say here. Go read the chapter.**

* * *

"What do you want Araki?" Kise asked. From his tone of voice, Kuroko was of the opinion the two didn't get along well.

"It looked like those girls were bothering you, Kise. " The woman replied, her tone neutral.

"Not really," Kise replied, keeping the same tone.

_I know her. I've seen her before…somewhere…_ Kuroko flashed back to the time when the two girls had cornered him at his mailbox. He thought he had seen a third person approaching before he passed out. Kagami had also said someone else had shown up right afterward. Kuroko couldn't explain why, but he was certain it was her.

"I'm sorry," Araki said, turning to Kuroko. "Because of us, you had to wait so long. I just wanted to apologize. I'll leave you two alone now." And with that, she turned and left.

Kuroko watched her go. _What did she mean, because of 'us'? She wasn't part of the fangirl mob. _His train of thought was interrupted as he found Kise's face blocking his field of vision.

"I really am sorry for making you wait there," Kise said. "But like I said, I'll honor one request of yours to make up for it. So what wish would you like me to grant for you? Like I said, I'll do absolutely anything."

"Heh?" Kuroko blinked. Kise was way too close.

"Are you too mesmerized by me to think, Kurokocchi?" Kise teased.

"NO!" What in the world was going on here? He was pretty sure this wasn't typical Kise behavior. Maybe Kagami was right after all and the guy really was a stalker.

"I was just teasing. Don't get mad at me, Kurokocchi." Kise was still smiling, but something about it looked…off. Forced. "I said we'd go out somewhere right? So let's go. How about a movie?"

* * *

"It sure is crowded," Kise remarked when they arrived at the theater. "Is that going to bother you, Kurokocchi?"

"I'll be fine." _Why am I spending my free day with Kise anyway? Shouldn't I be spending it with Aomine?" _

"You've been awfully quiet," Kise said, letting his smile slip for the first time Kuroko had seen today. "Did I do something wrong?"

_What is he talking about?_ _And how am I even supposed to answer that? Nothing about today feels normal. _

"I-I'm sorry," Kise said after Kuroko had failed to give a response for a while. "I'll make it up to you, okay?" His voice lacked the usual energy and cheerfulness Kuroko had come to associate with Kise; and Kuroko couldn't help but feel that it was his fault. But before he could reply, he heard them calling out that that ticket sales would be closing as the movie was starting, and the two of them scrambled to get a seat in time.

* * *

"So, you're not my husband?" The woman in the movie asked, sounded both shocked and afraid.

"This is my first time meeting you." The man replied, sounding confused and a little wary.

"You're lying." The woman declared, sounding like she was about to panic. "There's no way that's true."

"But I…I have a wife and kids. It's true." The man declared sounding sorry for her, in the way one would pity a mad person.

"But I was with you…and then…" The woman burst into tears.

_Today is strange. Almost like the time I woke up in the hospital room with Aomine. Is time moving backwards?_ Kuroko wondered thinking of the repeating date of Aug 1st and his blank notebook that he was sure he had written in. _No, that can't be possible. But Kise…_ Kuroko focused his attention back on the movie.

"When I came to, it was like I was in another reality, similar yet different from the reality I was in before," the woman tried desperately to explain. "It CAN'T be a dream!" She said, sounded on the verge of hysterics.

_No way…that sounds almost exactly like what's been going on with me lately. But it's only a movie. It can't…_ Kuroko's thoughts were interrupted when he felt Kise move to hold his hand. He turned to see the blond giving him a shy smile. _But if this is just like this movie then…that means..._ he felt a panic attack coming on.

Kise seemed to sense his mood and let his hand go. His face looked hurt, although he was trying hard to hide it. Kuroko felt kind of bad, but fcused his attention on what was left of the film to see if he could learn anything more about whatever predicament it was that he was currently in.

* * *

When the movie had finished, Kuroko and Kise were the last two to remain in their seats. "It looks like everyone else left…" Kise said. "Um, sorry. I shouldn't have done that earlier. I guess you're still mad at me, and, um…"

"I'm not mad at you."

"R-really?" Kise's face looked hopeful. "I'd deserve it though. I made you wait so long, and then teased you on top of it…"

"It's fine," Kuroko said. "Thank you for taking me to see the movie."

"It was a strange movie, wasn't it? I couldn't tell if you liked it or not…" Kise trailed off. "I should have asked you what you wanted to see. Would you have preferred something else?" He looked hesitantly at Kuroko, like he was afraid he would yell at him or something. _Has he always acted like this around me?_

"No. I'm glad we went to see this one." It had given him a lot to think about and sort through.

"Excuse me, but we're closing. I'm going to have to ask the two of you to leave now."

"Sorry," Kise apologized for them. They made their way outside. "Do you want to go home?" Kise asked. "We do have school tomorrow."

_At least that's the same. But I still don't know what's going on. I don't know what to do…_ He wished he could talk with Kagami about this. But he hadn't seen Kagami for a very long time now….

"Kurokocchi, what's wrong?" Kise asked picking up on Kuroko's sullen mood. "Your face just got this kind of depressed look all of the sudden. Like you lost your best friend or something."

_I kind of did…_ He could feel tears pricking at the corner of his eyes. Did Kagami disappear because Kuroko went to the hospital? Was it all his fault? He could feel a stray tear making its way down his face.

"I-I'm sorry! Forget I asked!" Kise frantically exclaimed. "W-we don't have to go home if you don't want to! We can do whatever you want! Just please don't cry Kurokocchi…" Kise pleaded with smaller male.

"I'm sorry. It's not your fault," Kuroko said trying to rub the moisture away.

"Oh, I still need to honor that wish of yours, remember? But you haven't asked me for anything yet. What request do you want me to grant?" Kise asked trying to change the subject and put Kuroko in a better mood.

"Um…can you walk me to school tomorrow?" Kuroko asked. He couldn't really think of anything else to ask for. And besides, without Kagami, he felt alone. He'd meant it when he told the spirit he couldn't handle this by himself. Kise wasn't the same as Kagami, but at least he was somebody he could talk to. Someone to help chase away the loneliness.

"T-that's it?" Kise looked shocked. "I-I mean, of course I will. I'd love to, actually. But is that really all you want?"

Kuroko nodded. He felt tired. Depressed. He just wanted to go home and sleep if off.

* * *

When he got home, Kuroko curled up in his bed and tried to sort through the day's events.

_Is...is Kise my boyfriend? But…but that can't be. Because that would mean everything before today was…_ Kuroko could feel tears forming in the corner of his eyes again. _I wish Kagami was here…_ He buried his face in his pillow.

He must have fallen asleep, because he awoke to a faint noise. He had trouble distinguishing its source though, or telling exactly what the noise was. If he listened closely, it almost sounded like a voice….

"**Hey, you."**

But that…there was no way he was hearing what he thought he was. Kagami was nowhere in sight. It had to be wishful thinking on his part. There was just no other…

"**...definitely something wrong. Can you hear me?"**

"Kagami?" Kuroko couldn't see him anywhere. He couldn't think of where Kagami could be. He leaned over the edge of his bed to peer under it, but of course, he wasn't there. Kuroko felt childish for even trying. But as he pulled himself back up, he saw Kagami standing in front of his bed. Except…he looked kind of…see through. Kuroko might have thought that was normal for spirits, except Kagami had never looked like that before. "Kagami, what happened to you?" Kuroko asked panicked.

"FINALLY!" Kagami exclaimed. "Do you have any idea how long I've been trying to talk to you for?"

"Is this a dream?" Kuroko asked, still not quite able to believe this was real.

"This isn't a dream. And I don't have time to explain everything. You can hear me now, but who knows how long I have until you can't again."

"There's something I need to talk to you ab-" Kuroko tried, but Kagami cut him off.

"No. There's something I need to tell you first. And this is important, so you need to hear me out."

Kuroko had never seen Kagami act this serious. He assumed whatever it was Kagami need to talk about had to be seriously important. He nodded to let Kagami know he could continue.

"I think you've already noticed, but the current reality is pretty different from when we first met. The world you're in now isn't the same one you were in before. But then, that world might not have been your real world. Your reality is really unstable right now…" Kagmi trailed off. "Sorry! If I hadn't bumped into you, none of this would have happened." Helooked like he was mentally beating himself up.

"I don't understand what you're saying," Kuroko told him. "Was everything I thought I experienced before a dream?"

"No, it was real."

"Then what's going on?" Kuroko desperately wanted to know. He'd probably go crazy soon if he didn't.

Kagami started to answer him, but he was becoming more transparent by the second, and his voice was fading as well. "It's hard to explain, but where you are now is really…" Kuroko could no longer see Kagami, and his voice had also faded into nothingness.

"Kagami! Wait!" But no matter how hard he strained his ears, he couldn't hear an answer. He curled in on himself again. He couldn't take this anymore. He didn't want to be alone again. It just wasn't fair. He felt twin trails of tears make their way down either side of his face.

He heard his phone go off, and reached for the distraction. Flipping it open, he saw he had a text from Kise. I had fun today. Hopefully we can go out again soon. I wanted to apologize again for making you wait. You seemed really sad today. Is everything okay? I'm worried about you.

No, Kise was definitely not Kagami. But he did care. Kuroko didn't even have time to reply to the text before he received another one. But this one was not from Kise. He couldn't even identify the sender as his phone didn't recognize the number. The message was short. What's going on with your daily report?

_Report? For school? I don't understand…Who sent this?_ It was all too much for Kuroko to handle right now. He decided to just go back to bed. Maybe everything would look less bleak in the morning.

* * *

**Author's note: Okay, so Kagami stole the chapter from Kise. But we haven't seen him in awhile and we got little explanation to what's going on and a bit more plot, so it's all good, right? Let me know in your reviews!**


	10. Rumor

Kuroko awoke to the sound of his phone ringing. "Hello?" he answered, still half asleep.

"Good morning, I think?" Kise replied on the other end of the line. "I'm already outside your place so…are you ready to go yet?"

"J-just give me five minutes," Kuroko said scrambling to make himself presentable. A quick glance at the clock showed Kise was early. VERY early. School didn't start for another hour. He wondered if this was the blonde's way of trying to make up for causing them to be late yesterday. He appreciated the gesture, but he really would have liked to sleep in a little more, or at least been warned what time he would get here before hand so he didn't have to be racing around at the last minute. But there wasn't much he could do about that now.

Kuroko made it outside 10 minutes later to find Kise waiting, thankfully without the fangirls.

"S-sorry. I'm too early aren't I?" Kise apologized. "I wanted to avoid a repeat of yesterday, so I thought if I left early enough I could avoid the fangirls but…" Kise looked at him sheepishly. "I should have warned you I'd come this early. Sorry."

"It's fine," Kuroko said. "I'm actually glad we won't have to deal with them today." _Especially two of them in particular…_

"R-really? Good! I don't want Kurokocchi to get jealous again." Kuroko tried half-heartily to swat him, But Kise easily evaded the pathetic attempt. "Anyway, ready to go?"

They took a different and rather roundabout way than Kuroko was used too, presumably to avoid Kise's fangirl mob. While it did take considerably longer than Kuroko's usual route, they still arrived on campus with time to spare.

"Good, they aren't here yet," Kise said. "Momoi has a doctor appointment after school, so we don't have practice today. Want to do something after school since we have time?"

Kuroko nodded. It wasn't like he had any other plans.

"Good. I should probably go now, before the fangirls show up and start bothering you again. Wait for me in the usual place, okay?" He took off before Kuroko could say anything.

_I don't know where the usual place is._

* * *

Kuroko tried asking his teachers to see if he had any reports due, but none of them knew what he was talking about. The only other incident of note was when he ran into Momoi between classes.

"Tetsu-kun!" she called running over to him. "I know I told you last week, but I just wanted to remind you there's no practice today in case you forgot."

"I know. Kise made sure to remind me this morning."

"Oh." Her face fell. "About Kise…there's something I want to talk to you about."

"What is it?" Kuroko asked her. It was unusual to see Momoi like this.

"I'll get straight to the point. Do you know who your boyfriend really is?"

_Well, that confirms that._ "Kise…my boyfriend…who he is..?" He figured he wasn't making much sense, but he couldn't really bring himself to care. He was still trying to make sense of the fact.

"You don't know? You must not have had a bad experience yet," Momoi said. "Listen, I checked for myself, and I think that rumor might be true."

"Rumor?" He really had no idea what she was talking about.

"I thought you already knew! The rumor that he goes out with people like it's a game, and then tosses them aside three months later. He's not someone you should be falling in love with, Tetsu-kun."

_Is Kise really like that?_ He probably could afford to be, considering the size of his fanclub. And rumors usually have at least some truth to them. _If so then…_

Momoi noticed Kuroko's face fall, and tried end on a more positive note. "Anyway, it's none of my business. I trust you know what you're getting yourself into. But that doesn't mean I won't worry about you. Anyway, I have to get to class. I'll catch you later."

"Thank you for telling me."

"Of course. You're my friend." And with that, she took off for her next class, and Kuroko did likewise.

* * *

After school, Kuroko waited outside his locker. He wasn't really sure where he was supposed to meet Kise. He waited for what felt like forever, but there was no sign of him. When Kuroko was about ready to give up and head home, Kise called his phone.

"Kurokocchi, where are you? I'm already here, and I don't see you anywhere."

"Sorry. I'm still by my locker."

"What? Why?"

"Um…"

"I'm heading there now. Wait for me."

"Okay."

Kise arrived a few minutes later. "What's going on? You've been acting really weird since yesterday. Is there something you're not telling me?"

"N-no-"

"Yesterday when you asked me to walk you to school, I was more happy than anything, so I didn't ask. But that's not something you'd normally ask for, is it?" Kise said. "You know, you could trust me a little more. I am your boyfriend, after all."

_This sounds almost exactly like what Aomine said…but I don't know which one of them is really my boyfriend. Maybe neither of them are. Kagami said something about it possibly not being the real world…_

"You're awfully quiet. What's wrong?" Kise questioned.

"No, it's nothing."

"Okay. Then let's go."

* * *

When they got to the park, they noticed a disturbing sight. There were three kids trying to play on the basketball court, but they were being harassed by a group of street thugs.

"Come on, you've had enough," the bullies' ringleader said. "Give someone else a turn."

"But we just got here," the children protested. "Wait your turn."

"OUR turn? Why don't we settle this with some basketball."

"Who are those thugs?" Kise asked.

Kuroko watched them play for a while. There were more bullies than there were kids. It was hardly a fair fight. _This feels familiar somehow_. When one of them tried to complain, the bullies simply threw them to the ground and laughed.

Kuroko couldn't take it anymore. "There's nothing fair about this," he said walking over to the bullies. "This isn't basketball. Basketball doesn't use violence."

They laughed. "Fine then. We'll play you instead."

"Mind if I play too?" Kise said coming up behind Kuroko. "Five on two should still be in your favor, even if we are closer to your age."

The bullies started with the ball, but somehow Kuroko quickly got it away from them and towards Kise, who easily made a basket. The game pretty much continued to follow that pattern. It was obvious the bullies didn't have much experience at basketball. _Why do I have this sense of déjà vu? _

Eventually, the two of them were one basket away from winning. The bullies hadn't even scored. "You're shooting is sloppy," Kise told them. "You shoot…like this." The ball landed effortlessly in the basket, winning them the game.

_This…this is the same as that memory I had during practice. It wasn't mixed up like it was with Aomine or non-existent like it was with Midorima. Maybe this really is the real world?_

The bullies took off. "Cowards," Kise commented. "Here," he told the kids, "you can have your ball back."

"Thank you so much," the kids chorused. "You two were so cool!"

"Not really…" Kise said, slightly embarrassed.

Just then, a girl around their age made their way over to Kise. "I was watching the whole thing," she told him. "You were amazing. I like you. Do you have a girlfriend?"

Kise looked shocked for a second, but it quickly switched to something akin to anger. He looked like he was going to yell at the girl, and Kuroko tried to intervene.

"Kise," he said grabbing his hand. "It's getting late. We should go home." He jerked his head in the direction of the children, hoping Kise would get the message that he shouldn't start anything in front of them. The three kids were all currently watching them with wide eyes.

Thankfully Kise took the hint, and his face returned to a more neutral expression. "You're right. We should go home," he told Kuroko starting to walk away. "And I'm taken," he called back to the girl.

Kuroko followed Kise, leaving the girl to gape like a fish.

* * *

"Sorry," Kise apologized once they were in front of Kuroko's house. "I should have controlled my emotions better back there. I know you have a soft spot for kids."

"I'm just glad you took the hint."

"Still, it wasn't much of a date, was it? I'll make it up to you though," Kise said, invading Kuroko's personal space. Kuroko wanted to back up, but as he was already backed against his door there wasn't really anywhere else for him to go. "You know, it's hard to kiss you with your eyes open. Do you not want me to?" Kise asked, voice slightly hurt.

"Um…"

"I won't if you don't want me to. But do you really not want me as your boyfriend? Was I deluding myself into thinking that you had come to love me?" Kise's asked.

"I…"

"Close your eyes. I'm not going to hurt you, Kurokocchi." Kise begged.

Kuroko couldn't. Momoi's words were playing over and over in his head. Could he really trust Kise? Or was the blonde just using him for temporary entertainment?

"You still won't," Kise said sadly. "I just can't seem to make you fall for me."

"P-please stop," Kuroko pleaded.

"I don't know why I thought it would work this time. I guess I'm not used to having to try so hard."

"Huh?"

"You're the first person I've dated who hasn't been head over heels in love with me. But I'm going to change that. I will win over your heart, Kurokocchi. I won't admit defeat."

_So he has dated lots of other people before. But I guess I really shouldn't be surprised…_

"Anyway it's late and I need to get home. Good night, Kurokocchi."

"Goodnight," Kuroko replied as Kise left towards his own house. But just before Kise left his range of hearing, Kuroko heard him say something that made his blood freeze:

"One more month."

_It's true…_ His phone went off before he could further process that thought. It was the same message he had gotten earlier: What's up with your daily report?

_Again…who is this?_ Kuroko went inside his house. It was late, and there was no point worrying over things he couldn't control. He decided to get some sleep.

* * *

A few days later Kuroko decided to go for a walk since he didn't have school. He hoped it would clear his head and allow him to think. But as he was walking, he spotted Midorima and Kise. And it looked like they were arguing.

"I didn't think it would be you, Midorimacchi."

"It's been awhile, Kise."

"So it's finally come to this."

"It's a shame, really. If you want to beg for mercy, now's your chance," Midorima declared. "I've created the ultimate weapon to finish you off."

"Do you really think you can defeat me?" Kise taunted.

"Parting is such sweet sorrow, but I'm afraid this is the end for you."

"I'll take you down," Kise said.

"Take this!" Midorima said, reaching in his backpack for something Kuroko couldn't see.

_He's not going to SHOOT him, is he!?_ "Please stop!" Kuroko cried, running between the two of them. Unfortunately, he slipped and fell on his face.

* * *

"Sorry," Kise apologized after the three of them had gone to Kise's place to patch up Kuroko's face. "I didn't know you were there. I never expected you to jump in. You really fell spectacularly though." Kuroko made another mock swat at him, which Kise easily dodged. "Sorry. Does it still hurt?"

"No, it feels much better thanks to Midorima."

"That's good, although I still can't believe you thought I was going to shoot Kise." Midorima said. "I perfected a new basketball technique that I wanted to try out but…"

"It doesn't matter anyway," Kise said. "Mine new secret move is good enough to pound yours into the dust."

"So you two were just talking about basketball?" Kuroko asked. He felt stupid.

"Of course," Midorima said, pulling the basketball out of his bag. "What else would we have been talking about?"

Kuroko wanted to crawl into a hole and die of humiliation.

"Um, I'll go get drinks since I dragged you both here," Kise said, noticing the awkward atmosphere. "Even though my place was the closest, that's no excuse not to be a god host. I'll be back in a minute." He headed into the kitchen.

"Is this your first time seeing Kise's place?" Midorima asked when the blonde had left.

"Um…" Kuroko didn't remember ever being here before, but then again, he didn't remember a lot of things. He didn't think there was a safe answer to this question. What if he guessed wrong? Surely they'd know something was wrong with him.

"So you haven't been here before. That's unusual. Up until now, Kise has always broken up with his girlfriend after three months for some reason-"

_So what Momoi said was true…_ Kuroko felt his heart sink.

"-but I think you're different from the rest of them. You don't seem to be blindly in love with him them the rest were. I've never seen Kise work so hard at a relationship with anyone else. To think it's possible there's someone that even Kise can't win over…"

"Don't say that," Kise said, coming back in with drinks. "I still have a few weeks left to make him fall in love with me."

_A few weeks until it's been three months? But why does he always break up after three months anyway? _

* * *

"I should be heading home," Midorima declared after an hour or so had passed.

"Alright. But next time, I am going to crush you with my new skill," Kise taunted.

"We'll see about that," Midorima said before exiting.

"Want me to walk you home, Kurokocchi?" Kise asked after Midorima had left. "Or would you rather spend the night here?"

* * *

**Author's note: Cliffhanger!...kind of. This chapter was really long. Akashi makes a brief appearance next chapter, so that's something to look forward too. It should be out in a week. Until then, review!**


	11. Fanclub

**Author's note: Thank you so much for the reviews I got! I'm happy this story was able to brighten your day a little. I seriously considered naming this chapter page break city because there are so many page breaks in here. I wish I could have figured out how to reduce their number a little. I hope you enjoy the chapter regardless.**

* * *

"I…um…uh…" Kuroko could literally feel his face heat up.

"I-it doesn't have to be like _that_…" Kise said holding his hands up. "I can sleep on the floor. I'm not that desperate. If you tell me not to do anything, I won't."

"That's…um…uh…"

A hurt look crossed over Kise's face, but it was replaced by laughter so quickly that Kuroko wondered if he had imagined it. "I'm joking. You can stop worrying now. I'll walk you home."

* * *

When he got home, Kuroko once again tried recording the day's events in the journal. Even though that hadn't worked so well last time, he felt like he needed to try something. He was distracted from his writing by the now familiar text: What's up with your daily report?

_This text again? What do they mean by daily report?_ Kuroko once again decided to ignore it. Hopefully it was just someone pranking him.

* * *

A few days later, Kuroko arrival at school was a bit out of the ordinary. Some girl was talking to Kise, but she quickly feld in a flurry of tears, almost knocking Kuroko over in her flight. He was too far away from where the conversation took place to hear what was said. He hesitantly approached Kise, who was standing against the side of the building with his hand curled in a fist. He looked pissed.

"Kise…" Kuroko tried.

"Oh, Kurokocchi." Kise's face softened, although his voice still lacked its usual cheerfulness. "Good morning."

"Did something happen?" Kuroko asked.

"Why is it girls never hesitate to try and steal me, even when they know I'm taken?" Any warmth Kise's face had regained was now gone. "They always say things like 'I'm more fun' in a way that's only half joking. Sometimes, I think I really might hate girls." His tone took on a dark expression.

"Kise…?" This was not the same overly cheerful and energetic blonde that Kuroko knew. He was starting to become worried.

"Sorry," Kise said, his face quickly changing back to one Kuroko was more familiar with. "I was just wondering why I can't understand how girls think." His voice had regained its usual tone as well.

_It sounded a lot more serious than that…I'm actually kind of worried about him._

"I wish I knew what you were thinking too…" Kise said, his tone losing some of its luster again.

The five minute warning bell sounded before Kuroko could reply, and the two of them quickly scrambled towards their classes.

* * *

On his way home from school, Kuroko ran into the short red haired male again.

"Good evening," they called out to him. "It's nice to meet you. Or, is it nice to see you again?" They paused for a moment. "You're going out with Kise Ryouta here, right? Then let me warn you: Be careful not to make any enemies."

_What does he mean? And how does he know all this?_

"Sorry for holding you up," the stranger said. "I'll leave you now." They headed down the other side of the street.

* * *

Some days later Kuroko was home with a cold. He was woken by his phone.

"Hello?" Kuroko answered.

"What happened? What's this about you being out sick?" Kise asked from the other end of the line.

"I haven't felt well all day," Kuroko answered. He rally just wanted to go back to sleep.

"Are you okay?"

"I have a headache."

"I'm coming over right after school. Go back to bed for now. You sound like you need your rest.

"Okay," Kuroko replied, and did just that.

* * *

"I brought you some medicine and stuff," Kise said when he arrived.

"Don't you have practice?" Kuroko asked looking at the clock.

"I skipped. It would have taken me forever to get here if I had to deal with the fangirls. Since they know I have practice, skipping it seemed like a good way to avoid them."

"Oh…"

"Are you feeling okay?" Kise asked, placing his hand on Kuroko's forehead for a moment. "You don't feel too hot, but we should probably take your temperature just in case. I'm glad you're doing better than I thought, though."

"Yeah."

"You haven't eaten all day right? I'll make you something. What do you think you can keep down? You can be as demanding or selfish as you want."

"Thank you," Kuroko said.

"If you happen to fall in love me, that'd be all the thanks I'd need," Kise teased, before heading into the kitchen.

* * *

Kuroko woke up the next day to a text message from Kise.

Good morning. I hope your fever is down today. I thought you might still be sick, so I made breakfast yesterday too. It's in the fridge. Eat it if your stomach isn't upset.

_He seems like a nice guy_ Kuroko thought. _But then there' that rumor…I wonder which is the real Kise?_

* * *

Kuroko returned to school a day later.

"We're starting practice now," Momoi told all of them. "And Tetsu-kun, since you caught a fever despite me constantly telling all of you to take care of yourselves, you get to do extra warm-ups."

"O-okay…" _Has she always been like this?_

"But before we warm up, I want to remind you all about the trip," Momoi continued.

"Trip?" Kuroko asked.

"It will be a three day – two night island stay," Momoi said. "I thought it would be good for everyone to relax a little before we gear up for our next game."

_Uh oh. This sounds familiar…_

Momoi had the others do a scrimmage while Kuroko was doing his extra warmups on the other side of the gym. He got about hallway through them when Momoi came up to talk to him.

"The real reason why I had you do these extra warmups is because I wanted a chance to talk to you alone," Momoi said. "After I booked the trip, Kise's fangirls made reservations there also. You should prepare yourself."

"Thanks for the warning," Kuroko said. He was not looking forward to this.

"Also…Sorry about before. About saying those things about Kise, I mean. I was being nosy."

"No, I'm glad you told me," Kuroko said.

"I was just concerned. You used to say you hated Kise so much that you could barely stand playing on a team together. Then you joined the official Kise fanclub all of the sudden-"

"What!?"

"Shhh, they'll hear us. You forgot? He has so many fangirls that he has an official school club devoted to him."

_Kise has an OFFICIAL fanclub?_ This was shortly followed by an even more disturbing thought. _And I JOINED it!?_

"You said you joined because there was something you wanted to find out," Momoi continued. "But when I heard the two of you were going out, I was shocked, really."

_What did I want to find out?_ Kuroko wondered. _And why would I date someone I hate?_

"Sorry," Momoi said, taking his silence the wrong way. "I just apologized for being nosy, and now I'm doing it again. I'm really sorry."

"I'm not mad," Kuroko told her.

"Listen, if anything happens, you can talk to me, okay? I'm worried about what his fangirl mob could do to you. I actually almost canceled the trip once I found out they'd be there."

"I'll make sure to avoid them as much as possible," Kuroko assured her. "And thank you for the offer."

"No problem. Now, go practice with the others. You've done enough warmups."

* * *

That night Kuroko thought about the day's events. He couldn't help but think back to the two girls that cornered him by the mailbox. _They're with Kise's fangirls…So they're probably part of the fanclub. I wonder if the promise I broke has anything to do with that?_ He lost his train of thought when his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Kurokocchi. I need you to talk about something. Anything. I might die if I don't hear your voice. I'm serious."

"Kise…what's wrong with you?" His voice didn't sound normal. If Kuroko had to guess, he'd say he sounded drunk. "Have you been drinking?"

"Yeah, but I'm fine. I always want to talk to someone when I'm drunk." Kuroko could vaguely hear what sounded like drunken laughter. "Didn't I call you once before like this too? It really drove you up the wall." More drunken laughter followed, much louder this time. "Just talk about something. Anything. I want to hear your voice."

"..Are you all right?" Kuroko asked instead. He wondered if he should call someone, but he didn't know who.

"I told you, I'm fine. I walked all the way here by myself."

_HERE!?_ Kuroko looked out at window, and sure enough, Kisee was outside. "What are you _doing_ here?" Kuroko asked him. Now he definitely wanted to call someone. Maybe the police.

"I'm like a stalker," Kise said, meeting his gaze through the window. His face had a sad expression "Sorry."

_Yep, time to call the police. Kagami was right after all. _He went to move away from the window.

"Wait!" Kise said. "Just listen from there. There's always been something heavy in my heart, making me suffer. But when I hear your voice or see your face, that something starts to melt." His face took on a very soft expression. "And then I'm okay." He paused for a moment. "A girl confessed her love for me again today. I rejected her and made her cry. But seeing her tears didn't make me feel guilt or pity. Just heavy. I thought, 'I want this to be over. I want to see Kurokocchi.' It's terrible, right? But I know that I'll never be able to escape from this fate. That's why I decided it was easier to go along with it and have fun with girls. But in the end, that didn't go well either." He paused again. "You're different. You've always been different."

"How am I different?" Kuroko asked.

"Because you're the one person I actually want to love me…and yet the only one I can't seem to affect. That's why you're special." He was silent for a moment. "Thanks for listening to me. I'm really glad I got to talk to you."

"No, it's…"

"It's late. You should go to bed. You don't want your cold to come back because your body is stressed. I'll leave now. Goodnight." The line went dead. Kise started to leave.

Kuroko threw the window open. "Kise…Goodnight."

The blonde turned to give him a small smile before continuing on his way.

* * *

**Author's note: ****Next chapter should be up in a week. ****We're getting near the end of this pairing. Any guesses for which one is next? Speculate in your reviews. **


	12. Shooting Star

The day of the trip arrived faster than expected. When they arrived, Kuroko noticed Kise's fangirl stalkers were already there, including the two he most wanted to avoid. He also saw Araki Masako there, which surprised him. It surprised him even more when she asked if the two groups wanted to have a friendly game of basketball.

As Araki picked her players, she chose the two girls he had run into before. He learned the brunette was Riko, and the blonde was Alex. She picked two more people whose names Kuroko had forgotten, and her team was complete.

Their team was actually really good. Kuroko's team was winning, but not by much. Even Momoi seemed shocked. Although the rest of the fangirl mob distraction wasn't exactly helping them…

Kise made a basket, and the fangirl mob went nuts.

"Kise is so cool!"

"I'm not even mad I wasn't picked since I get to watch him!"

_Whose side are they on anyway? Shouldn't they be cheering for their own team?_

"Yes, thank you, I know I'm awesome," Kise replied. "But can you please keep it down? You almost made me miss my shot."

"But you're so talented there's no way you could miss," Alex commented.

"You should give me some lessons after," Riko replied.

"Cut it out," Araki scolded Riko, inclining her head towards Kuroko for reasons he didn't entirely understand.

Riko briefly glanced at him before turning her attention back to Kise. "You don't care about him, right?"

"Why would we need to worry what he thinks if I'm only teaching you how to shoot?" Kise asked, tone practically flirting.

_What the hell!?_ Kuroko was mad. But while Riko was squealing in glee, he noticed Kise glance at him and mouth something. He couldn't tell what he was trying to say for certain, but if Kuroko had to guess, he would say it was 'watch this'.

They resumed the game, and Riko had the ball. But not for long, because Kise easily stole it from her. She hurriedly raced after him as Kise skillfully avoided the team's defenders. He went for a shot and Riko managed to get there in time to block, but Kise changed his trajectory at the last second. This caused Riko to twist awkwardly in her continued attempt to block, and she ended up falling on her butt as Kise's shot soared through the hoop, winning them the game.

Kuroko had to admit, it was kind of funny. He was trying to hide a smile. Kise gave him a look that seemed to say, '_I knew you'd like that'_. But Kise was quickly swarmed by fangirls, and Kuroko decided it would be best to avoid them and take a shower since he was sweaty from the game.

* * *

Later that night, Kuroko was sitting outside when he Kise approached him. "How'd you manage to get away from your fanclub?" Kuroko asked.

"I'm having them play one on ones against each other. I told them I'd give shooting lessons to whoever won the most." Kise shrugged. "Do you have a moment?"

"Yeah."

Kise sat next to him, and it was a few moments before he spoke. "You can see a lot of stars out here. One time, when I was a kid, I gazed up at the sky like this and I wished upon a shooting star. 'I want to be popular with girls'. That was my wish. Pretty stupid, right? I often think, 'couldn't I have wished for something else instead?' After I made that wish, the attitudes of the girls around me changed. They were suddenly all so nice to me. It was strange. I was really happy at first. But as I got older, their reactions changed as well, to the point that they all practically stalked me. By middle school, I regretted my wish. I think I got cursed instead for making such a stupid wish. I couldn't ever get close to anyone after that. Even when I'd date someone, they'd always leave me after three months for some reason."

_They leave him? It's not the other way around?_

Kise kept talking. "There are girls around me all the time and they're always cruel to my date, so they probably get tired of it and leave me. And it just keeps happening… So I thought, if they're going to break up with me eventually, why not just make three months a time limit and date for fun? I thought I would never really be able to fall in love, and I gave up on the idea…until I met you."

"…Kise…" He'd never expected to hear anything like this from the blonde. _I never realized he felt like this._

"At first, I thought my interest in you was purely due to basketball. You had a playstyle unlike anything I'd ever seen, and it was something I was unable to copy. It frustrated me. But it quickly moved beyond that, to the point where I felt I needed to know _everything_ about you. I was practically a stalker. It didn't take too long after that for me to realize how I really felt about you. I'm always trying to think about how I can show you my true feelings, but I can never seem to find the words." Kise was silent for a moment. "You probably don't even believe any of this."

"No. I do." Kise looked up at him, shocked. "I was wrong about you, Kise."

"Of course you were," Kise commented sadly. "I've always acted like a playboy. But I wanted you to know this, at least. I want to always be by your side. I love you." Without warning, Kise leaned over and kissed him. His kiss was much softer than Aomine's had been. Kuroko wasn't exactly sure what a fairytale kiss was supposed to feel like, but he figured this one came pretty close.

As they broke apart, a shooting star made its way across the sky. "Did you make a wish, Kurokocchi?" Kise asked. Kuroko shook his head. "I did," Kise said. "I wished that you'll fall in love with me, that you won't be mad that I selfishly kissed you, and that you'll let me do it again." He paused, then let out an embarrassed laugh. "I guess that's technically three wishes."

Kuroko smiled slightly. "We should head back. The others might start looking for us soon."

"I suppose you're right," Kise agreed. "Let's go."

* * *

When Kuroko got back to his room, he sat on his bed and thought over what he'd learned. _If it's the girls who leave Kise, then why is it always after three months?_ His train of thought was distracted when he heard someone knocking on his door. He went to answer it.

It was Riko. "You have a second?" She asked.

"Yeah." _ Why is she here?_

"Follow me." She turned without waiting for his reply, and Kuroko had no choice but to follow her.

* * *

Riko led him outside to the dock where Araki and Alex were waiting. "I'm sorry for having Riko bring you out here," Araki apologized.

"It's fine," Kuroko said. _What do they want?_

"Have you forgotten?" Araki asked. "I told you when you were initiated that I would not allow you to monopolize Kise."

"What happened to that promise?" Riko demanded.

"Promise?" _Is this the promise I broke to these girls?_

"Don't play dumb!" Riko shouted angrily. "Your time with Kise isn't just your own! We're all supposed to share it!"

"Um, I don't really understand what you mean," Kuroko said.

"It's not like we haven't told you," Araki said. "You've failed to give us your daily report for a while now. You're supposed to record in detail your time with Kise, and submit it every day. That was the agreement for allowing you to go out with him. When you forget, you need to take responsibility for that. Please submit your reports from August first up until now as soon as you get back. And be careful from now on. Take care." Araki left him with the other two girls.

_That message…was from these girls._

"You'd better keep your promise," Riko warned him. "We each get to be with Kise for only three months. You know that, right?"

_So that's why…_

"I don't understand why Kise would want to go out with someone like you in the first place," Alex told him. "But it's almost the promised three months anyway. And if you can't keep your promise, we'll have you break up immediately!"

"For Kise's sake as well," Riko chimed in.

"Uh...Don't you think that's wrong?" Kuroko asked. _ What they're doing is hurting Kise._

"Are you talking back to us!?" Alex shrieked.

"Don't get full of yourself!" Riko shouted at him. She pushed him off the dock and into a small rowboat that was tied there. "Cool your head for a bit," she told him as she untied it and sent Kuroko drifting out into the water.

Unfortunately the oars were still on the dock, so Kuroko had no way to steer. He kept drifting.

"When I find those girls, I'm seriously going to…" _Kagami!_

"Kagami! You're back!" Kuroko could see him again. He wasn't transparent anymore either.

"You can see me again?" Kagami asked him.

"Yeah. It's good to see you again."

"Aren't those the same girls who bullied you before?" Kagami asked. "They were saying something about three months each with Kise?"

"They're from Kise's fanclub. I think they all agreed not to date Kise for more than three months," Kuroko told him. "Probably so that no one person could have Kise, and they could all take turns."

"And here I thought that guy was the stalker…" Kagami said. "I guess being popular isn't always as fun as it looks."

Kuroko was about to reply, but stopped. It felt like he was sitting on something wet. He changed his position, and noticed a crack where he had been sitting. He guessed it happened when Riko shoved him off the deck. It was kind of a long fall, and it had hurt.

"Uh,oh…" Kagami sounded panicky. "It's going to sink."

"I don't have any oars." Kuroko was panicking.

"Can you swim?" Kagami asked.

"I don't know."

"That's not good…"

The boat continued to drift and fill with water.

"I think…I think I'm going to have to try swimming," Kuroko said, trying not to have a full blown panic attack. The boat would sink before it drifted to land, and the longer he waited, the farther it drifted from where he started.

"But what if you don't know how?" Kagami asked. He was starting to become transparent again.

"Then I drown either way."

Kagami hesitated, then nodded. "If you think that this is the best option, then go for it."

Kuroko went to stand up, but it caused to boat to tilt heavily and tip over, which he was not prepared for. He got plunged into the water.

"Kuroko!" He could vaguely hear Kagami shouting at him, but his voice sounded distorted.

Kuroko tried to swim back up to the boat, but to no avail. Either he'd never learned to swim, or it was one of the many things his amnesia had caused him to forget. Either way, he continued to sink.

He could vaguly make out Kagami reaching towards him. He looked even more transparent than he did before. "Kuroko, hang in there! Grab my hand!" Kagami reached for the smaller male, but his hand went right through him. "Dammit!" Kagami faded from view completely. "Why can't I grab him!?" was the last thing Kuroko heard from him before he could no longer hear him either.

He couldn't breathe. He had already swallowed some water when he'd been dumped off the boat unprepared. His vision was already getting spots. As he was sinking, he could see the moon glowing above the surface of the water. _It's beautiful…_ He tried to reach for it, but only continued to sink. The moon was the last thing he saw before he blacked out.

* * *

**Author's note: And that brings us to the end of the Kise arc. Next up is Midorima. Hopefully it'll be out in a week. This story is currently tied for the story of mine with the most favorites at 25 favorites. Think it'll come out as the sole champion by the time the next chapter comes out? Stay tuned to find out!**


	13. Midorima

**Author's note: I want to apologize for this chapter, both because it's later than I usually update and because it's also much shorter than normal. Midorima is a very difficult character to write. ****I'm not really sure what the second category should be for this story either (romance being the first category). I've put the second one as drama, but I'm not sure if that's really what this is. I've also considered supernatural, mystery, and suspense, but I don't know. What do you guys think?**

* * *

Kuroko suddenly found himself standing in front of his home. _Huh? I…_ His phone went off, signaling him that he had a new text message. He opened it. _It's from Midorima…_ The message was short: I need to talk to you after practice. _Talk? About what?_ He stared at the message hoping it would give him some kind of clue. And that was when he noticed. The message had been sent today, August first. And then Kuroko remembered what had happened what felt like only seconds before. _Not again…_

* * *

After practice Midorima had taken him to a café and they were currentlywaitng for their order to arrive. _I wonder what he wants to talk about?_ _He looks kind of angry…_

"I'm not a mind reader," Midorima said finally. "I won't understand if you don't tell me. I do understand that you object to my attitude towards you, but if that's the case then I'd like you to make your demands clearer."

_What is he talking about? And why did he have to phrase it to be so difficult to comprehend?_

"With regards to courting I have tried to act only according to what I've researched…" Midorima continued.

_Courting!? Don't tell me Midorima is…_

"…but if there is something I'm missing, I'll try to amend it," he finished. "But first, I need you to tell me what you're dissatisfied with."

_What should I do? I don't think I can go through this again…._

"Are you listening?" Midorima asked, sounding annoyed. "How about saying something?"

"I'm sorry…I don't really understand," Kuroko replied.

"Why are you apologizing?" Midorima asked, still sounding annoyed. "And don't tell me you suddenly felt like apologizing for no reason. That doesn't happen."

"U-um…" _He's actually kind of intimidating when he's angry._

"To think you'd apologize to me…" Midorima's tone seemed to have gone back to normal, at least. "It appears there are still mountains of unanswered riddles in this world."

_I'm not following this conversation at all…_

"Well, how should I say this?" Midorima considered. "I'm sorry too. I was unaware of your displeasure and said something immature. Forgive me."

"It's fine." _I guess things are okay now. But it's still difficult to understand what he means…_

* * *

"Do you want to walk for a while?" Midorima asked after they had finished their meal and were outside.

"Okay." Midorima set a brisk pace which Kuroko was having difficulty matching. It wasn't long before Kuroko had to pause to catch his breath.

Midorima noticed he's stopped. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"I'm just tired," Kuroko answered him. "Are we walking somewhere in particular?"

"When I began research what two people who've just started dating should do, it was recommended to take a walk with no destination," Midorima replied. "But I'll admit I don't really understand the significance."

_This guy…I don't think he has a clue what he's doing at all…_

* * *

When Kuroko got home he checked his notebook, only to find it empty. _Just like I thought. This is another world. Another reality…_ His phone alerted him that he had a text message from Midorima. It was short: Good night. Looking through all of his text messages, Kuroko saw that he'd gotten a text from Midorima every day. But they were almost all exclusively either "good morning" or "good night" with little variance. _I don't think he quite gets the point…._ His thought was interrupted when Midorima sent him another text. Do you want to come by my place tomorrow if you're not busy? Kuroko texted back an affirmative. _I don't really know where it is though…._ Thankfully Midorima texted back with directions. _I think it's going to be a long day…_

* * *

When Kuroko arrived, he found Midorima typing away on the computer. "Just sit wherever. There are drinks in the fridge," Midorima told him. "Grab whatever you want."

"Okay." Kuroko grabbed a bottle of water before settling on the couch. Text books were spread out throughout the room. They were all for courses far more advanced than what Kuroko was taking. Midorima had a large pile by the computer and would flip through them every so often before continuing to type on the computer. _I wonder what he's working on? Was there some reason he asked me to come here? _Time seemed to stretch on forever. Kuroko was bored. _Maybe I should say something. But I don't want to interrupt him…_

Eventually it the morning faded into the evening, and Midorima ceased his work. "Um…there was something you wanted me for, right?" Kuroko asked.

"Wanted? What do you mean?" Midorima asked. "You're the one who originally wanted us to spend more time together. That's why I decided to spend the day with you. However, I had assignments, so I had you come here. "

"Um…What?" _I don't think this qualifies as spending time together._ "I was hoping we'd talk a little more," Kuroko deadpanned.

"I'll listen," Midorima replied simply, crossing his arms as though he was waiting for whatever it was Kuroko wanted to tell him.

_That's not what I meant! How do you even respond to that?_

Midorima seemed to notice that Kuroko was slightly upset, and made his way over to the smaller male. Kuroko was a bit nervous as to what he was going to do, however, Midorima simply settled for ruffling his hair. "With regards to communication in dating, I have heard that this sort of act is especially effective," Midorima said.

"Um, sorry, but it kind of hurts," Kuroko said. _You're pushing on my head way to hard…._

"Sorry," Midorima apologized, withdrawing his hand and looking taken aback. "I don't know how much strength I should use. I'm not certain how much pressure I should put into my fingers. I should have looked into that as well."

_I don't think he's ready to be dating yet…_

* * *

**Author's note: We are about halfway through the story. As of my posting this, this story currently has 28 favorites, 41 alerts, 22 reviews, and 3,712 views. That's a lot. I want to thank everyone that made that possible, you guys are the best! **


	14. Festival

Kuroko was currently waiting by the train station for Midorima, who was rather late. _The festival was today, wasn't it? Today's date was indicated in that text message but…where is he?_ It was unlike Midorima to be late. Kuroko flipped through his text history again. Meet me by the train station at 6. He had been waiting for a half hour past that. _I didn't get the time wrong…maybe he's just not coming._ That thought left him feeling sadder than he expected.

His phone rang, alerting him to a new text from Midorima asking him if he was doing anything today. _He forgot…_ It made him irritated. Kuroko texted him back that they were supposed to be going to the festival today, and he was currently at the train station where they were supposed to meet up. Almost immediately after he sent the message, his phone rang, indicating that Midorima had called him.

"I'm so sorry!" Midorima exclaimed when Kuroko took the call. "You're right. I promised you I'd go to the festival with you today, but I completely forgot about it as it was an event I had no interest in."

_So he didn't want to go…_ Kuroko's irritation was becoming replaced by depression.

"Even if I head over now, you'll have to wait a bit," Midorima continued from the other end of the line.

"Never mind," Kuroko answered him. "Maybe some other time-"

"No. I'm coming right now. Wait there." The line went dead.

It was shortly after seven when Midorima ran up out of breath. "Sorry to make you wait Kuroko," he managed to get out between breaths.

"Are you okay?" Kuroko asked. He really looked like he was going to drop any minute. "Maybe you should rest a minute."

"I'm fine. It's supposed to rain soon, and while I did bring an umbrella, I'd like to get there before it starts. Let's go."

* * *

"It sure is busy despite the rain," Midorima commented once they got there.

"Yeah," Kuroko responded, trying his best to match Midorima's stride in order to stay under his umbrella and avoid getting wet.

"Be careful we don't get separated," Midorima cautioned. "If you're not against it, it would be helpful if you'd hold the umbrella too. So we don't get separated in the crowd. No other reason. And only if you're not against it. If you are, I'll think of a different method."

Kuroko couldn't tell for sure, but it looked as though Midorima was blushing slightly. To test his theory, Kuroko placed his hand directly below Midorima's on the umbrella, so they were touching.

"I see…" Midorima said, blush clearly evident on his face this time. "That will work just fine." They walked through the crowds for a while listening to the sound of chimes echoing from nearby merchant stalls. "You told me to promise you just one thing," Midorima said after a while. And then the memory Kuroko had had the first time he was on the island trip came rushing back.

"Promise?" Kuroko asked? He had asked Midorima before, but he didn't know what he was talking about. But this time…

"I promised I'd go to the festival with you when we first started dating. Even though I couldn't possibly imagine myself on a date, you told me to promise you one thing, and told me about the festival."

_So that's what the promise was…_

"It's stopped raining," Midorima indicated. Want to try going to some of the booths?

* * *

After spending a little under two hours enjoying the festivities, they decided to call it quits for the night. "I'm sorry about today," Midorima started. "I had no interest in festivals, so I'd forgotten my promise to you but… well… once I was here; I found that it was surprisingly fun.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Kuroko replied.

"At first, I thought that dating you would be impossible, but in the end it turned out to be an unexpectedly good time. How strange."

"I had a good time too," Kuroko replied. "Thank you for coming with me." Midorima looked shocked by his last sentence. "Is something wrong?" Kuroko asked.

"Nothing. You're just so upfront," Midorima replied. "It's late. I should get you home." And with that, they continued on their way.

* * *

"Do you remember when you scored that winning basket in our game 2 months ago?" Midorima asked out of the blue a few days later when Kuroko was at his house.

"Um…yeah." _Not really._

"I thought so," Midorima sighed. "You didn't score once that whole game."

_Uh, oh…_

"So there's something I'd like to ask you," Midorima continued. "During the past two weeks, you've been quite different than you have before. I've analyzed possible explanations, and considered everything from a life altering experience to abduction by aliens. I came up with a number of theories. And then, after narrowing it down to the most likely theories, only one plausible possibility remained. You don't have your memories."

_Not good…_

"I'm still investigating as to what extent." Midorima carried on. "However, at the very least, it's likely that you have forgotten everything that has happened since we started dating. Am I correct in my hypothesis?" he asked.

_What do I do?_

"**I think it's okay to tell him."**

"Kagami!" The familiar red head was standing in the middle of the room, as though he hadn't been gone for weeks.

"What is it?" Midorima asked, looking rather confused. "Is there something there?"

"Well, um…"

"I only saw a little bit of you interaction, but I think he'll hear you out," Kagami told Kuroko. "He seems smart. Since I haven't really been able to help you, maybe he can come up with something." He looked loathe to admit the last part. "I'm not sure what else to try at this point."

* * *

"I see," Midorima said when Kuroko finished his explanation. "I think I understand the gist of it."

"That's good," Kagami replied.

"When a scientific person sees fireworks, they think more about the chemical reactions than the beauty," Midorima started. "That is what's commonly thought, but it's not actually true. Logic, no matter how useful, can not be the answer to every situation."

"Where is he going with this?" Kagami asked.

"Let's say that a spirit has indeed attached itself to you. What sort of form does it take?" Midorima asked.

"He actually looks just like a normal human," Kuroko answered. "He just turns transparent sometimes."

"Can you draw me a picture?" Midorima asked pushing a pencil and notebook his direction.

Kuroko tried his best, but apparently art was one of his worst subjects. The picture looked rather awful.

"What is this? It's totally wrong!" Kagami complained.

"I'm sorry," Kuroko said addressing both of them. "I can't draw very well."

"So only you can see and hear him," Midorima declared.

"That's right," Kuroko responded.

"I'd like to talk him," Midorima commented. "Could you ask him some questions for me, and tell me what he says?"

"I think so," Kuroko answered.

"Then let's begin."

* * *

"So essentially, he exists in a different world from ours?" Midorima asked after a few minutes of questions.

"That's right." Kuroko replied.

"He said you're reality was unstable. What exactly does that mean?"

"I keep ending up in different realities, a different world from the one I was originally in. I'm still not exactly sure why though."

"So you're essentially stuck moving between parallel worlds?" Midorima frowned. "Then that would mean you're not the Kuroko that I know."

"I…don't know."

"I see…"

"He seems sad," Kagami commented. "While he did believe you and listen with his full attention, I can't help but feel that this may have been a bad idea. That it hurt Midorima in some way. " Kagami was starting to fade again. "But I think the you in this world…" the sentence was left incomplete as he faded completely.

"Kagami!" Kuroko called. But there was no answer.

"What happened?" Midorima asked.

"He disappeared again."

"I see. I was hoping to ask him more questions…" Midorima paused for a moment before changing topics. "I would always end up fighting with the Kuroko that I knew. It seemed that he was always displeased with something about me. He wanted me to be more open to my emotions." He paused again before continuing. "I have often hurt people with my arguments. I'm sure that was the cause of our quarrels. However, he did teach me that logic and arguments aren't always the correct path to take. Being able to honestly express your emotions is important as well. I don't think I would have realized that otherwise. So…thank you." He walked over and ruffled Kuroko's hair, taking care to be extra gentle this time.

"Midorima…I think that theme from this world really did like you, but had similar trouble to you in their ability to express it. I don't think the two of you fought because I disliked you." Kuroko couldn't explain why, but he felt sure that this was the truth.

"I wonder…I hope someday I become better able to honestly open up to you."

"You will. I'm sure of it."

* * *

They had started to walk back to Kuroko's place as it had become late. They were currently waiting at a crossroads for the DON'T WALK sign to change. "Can you come over again tomorrow?" Midorima asked.

"Yeah."

"That's good…I'm looking forward to it," Midorima said moving his hand so their fingers were interlaced.

The sign changed to WALK and they began to move forward. Kuroko had the strangest sense of déjà vu. They had nearly made it across when a pedestrian traveling in the opposite direction ran into him and knocked him over and out of Midorima's grasp. He could just make out the light changing and cars coming towards him when his reality began to shift.

He was again crossing the intersection, although it was the middle of the day now. As he walked he heard a car horn blare loudly in front of him. He was saved from his imminent demise as a strong hand pulled him backwards.

"What are you spacing out for, Kuro-chin?" Murasakibara asked him. "The light's red."

_Murasakibara?_ Kuroko felt dizzy. Like he had when he had blacked out in the gym just before he'd met Kagami. _I…don't feel good._ He could briefly see the world turn sideways as he toppled to the pavement and passed out.

* * *

**Author's note: Sorry for the super late chapter and for the Midorima arc being so short. I'll admit I kind of lost my motivation for this story, but seeing that Teiko flashback arc in the anime fired it up again. I used to kind of dislike Aomine, but my opinion of him has greatly improved after seeing that. Hopefully I can get this going at a somewhat steady pace again. Also, this story has been added to a community on here! I'm not sure who recommended it, but thank you!**


	15. Alley

**Author's note: Murasakibara is probably going to be horribly out of character. I can't write him at all. Just pretend it's some weird alternate reality version of him (since it kind of is anyway) and hopeful that will make it so it doesn't bother you too much. I am glad someone liked the way a wrote Midorima though. Reviews like that are always nice to hear.**

* * *

When Kuroko woke up, he found he was being carried. "Are you okay Kuro-chin? We're almost to the hospital."

_Wait, why is Murasakibara…_ He didn't have long to think though, because they were through the doors shortly. Muraskaibara quickly explained what happened, and it wasn't long until a doctor began pelting him with questions.

"Have you felt sick recently? Do you have any chronic illnesses?"

"He doesn't have any chronic illness. And he was perfectly healthy yesterday," Murasaibara responded for him.

"It could be anemia," the doctor stated. "Do you live with your parents?"

"He lives alone," Murasakibara answered for him again.

"I think we should have him admitted for now in order to run some test," the doctor stated.

"That's fine," Murasakibara agreed.

_Admitted!? Kagami said I should avoid hospitals. But he also said I shouldn't tell anyone I had amnesia, but then he had me tell Midorima so…_ His train of thought was broken when he noticed the date on the calendar hanging on the wall: August 1st.

* * *

"The doctor said the results would be ready tomorrow," the nurse informed him after Kuroko was through with his tests. "Do you happen to have your insurance card with you?"

"I'll bring it tomorrow," Murasaikbara answered for him. It seemed it was a habit of his. He gave Kuroko his phone. "I have to go now. If something happens, call me."

"Um…what happened to my phone?" Kuroko asked.

"You broke it when you fell. But my home number is on there, so you don't need to worry. I'll come as soon as you call."

"We have a call button, so it will be alright," the nurse said. "Neither of you need to worry."

"I know you do. I just can't help but be concerned about him is all," Murasibara replied. "See you tomorrow Kuro-chin," he said before leaving. The nurse left shortly after.

Kuroko tried his best to make himself comfortable, since the doctor had him stay the night just as a precaution. _If my reality shifted again, then that means Murasakibara is probably…my boyfriend._

* * *

"The doctor said you should rest for the next two or three days," Murasakibara informed him after Kuroko had been released. "I'm glad they let you leave the hospital though."

"Me too."

"You should head on inside. I'll get your mail for you."

The place looked the same as Kuroko remembered. "Here," Murasakibara said once he came inside. "I got you a new phone since yours broke. I transfered your data for you too"

"But, I..."

"Don't worry about it. I just don't want you to be sick anymore."

"That's not the case. I'm perfectly alright."

"Why are you being so formal? It's weird, so just talk like you normally do."

_Why can't I ever just happen to act like how I'm supposed to?_

"I heard you might have some memory loss since you smacked your head when you fell, but that's not the case, right Kuro-chin?" Murasakibara asked.

"That's…"

"Are you okay? How are you really feeling?" He seemed overly concerned.

"I'm a little fuzzy," Kuroko admitted.

"Fuzzy? You're kidding…right? I thought you were a little spaced out, but if it's this bad, shouldn't you have stayed in the hospital?"

"No, I should be fine." _I don't want to go back._

"The test results said you were fine, so I guess we'll just keep an eye on things," Muraskibra said, not sounding entirely convinced.

"Thank you…"

"You don't have to thank me for everything," Muraskibara told him. "Anyway, I'm guessing you're probably not up to cooking, so I'll make you dinner."

"Th…oops."

"Just take it easy Kuro-chin," he said heading into the kitchen.

Kuroko took advantage of the opportunity to check his notebook. _Blank…just like I thought._ However there was another book close by that caught his eye. He decided to see what it was as it looked unfamiliar. The word 'diary' was spread out across the cover. He couldn't read through it though, as there was a lock preventing it from opening. _Where's the key?_

Kuroko searched for it for a while, and ended up coming across a planner. A quick glance through it revealed it to be fairly standard, mostly just containing the dates of basketball games and when his homework assignments were due. But just as he was about to put it aside and continue his search, he noticed one date that seemed out of the ordinary to him. Kise at the back alley at 4 PM. An alley seemed like a shady place to meet, if you asked him. Like they had something to hide. He flipped to the previous month, and again found a date with the same annotation.

_This…could it be that…I'm cheating on Murasakibara…with Kise..!?_

Murasakibara suddenly entered the room. "What are you doing?" the giant asked him.

"Nothing!" Kuroko hastily answered, slamming the planner shut with much more force than necessary. "I was just checking my schedule."

"Okay…Anyway, I finished making dinner. You should come eat it."

Kurkok followed him to the table where a simple meal of pasta and a salad was laid out. "It looks really good," Kuroko said, impressed.

"Looks? It is good. Try it."

Kuroko did. It was the best pasta he had ever tasted.

"I told you it was good. Make sure you eat the salad too though. You need your nutrients."

* * *

"I'll be heading home now," Muraskiabara said after they had finished their meal. "I'm sure there are things you're still worried about, but I'll come to check on you again tomorrow."

"Thanks again for today," Kuroko said.

"I told you don't need to do that. Just take it easy. I'll see you tomorrow," he said, heading out the door.

_I'm glad Murasakibara was here._

* * *

It was raining when Kuroko got up the next morning. Not really having much else to do, he went outside to get his mail. But when he opened the mailbox, he found it full of garbage: banana peels, fish bones, and moldy bread.

"Wh-what is this!?" It was awful. He went inside to get a trash bag and some cleaning supplies to get rid of the mess. _Why would someone do this?_ It wasn't too long after he had cleared it out and gone back inside that Murasakibara arrived.

"Good morning. You're up unusually early," the giant commented. "I thought you might call last night, but I didn't see any messages from you. Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I fell asleep before I knew it," Kuroko answered truthfully.

"Anything unusual?"

Kuroko couldn't help but think of the mailbox, but bringing that up was only likely to make Murasakibara even more overprotective than he already was. "Nothing in particular…"

"Really? That's good. If you're feeling better, do you want to go for a walk?"

Kuroko considered it for a moment. "Do you know where the back alley is?" he finally asked. He was supposed to meet Kise there in a few days, and he'd like to find out what exactly for. But he couldn't do that if he didn't know how to get there.

Murasakibara frowned. "The back alley? Why do you want to go there?"

"Um…"

"Never mind. I think I know where you're talking about. It's not too far from here."

"Will you come with me?"

"Of course. Just say the word, and I'll take you."

It had stopped raining by the time they set out.

"I'm glad the rain stopped," Murasakibara said after they had been walking awhile. Although it's pretty hot out now."

"Yeah."

"You haven't been talking much."

"Oh…sorry."

"I used to tease you, saying you'd be cuter if you were quiet, but when you actually are quiet it's a little troubling."

Kuroko wasn't sure what to make of that.

"Anyway, it should be right over here," Murasakibara said turning the corner. The alley was narrow, dimly lit, and devoid of much besides trash cans. Not the type of place Kuroko wanted to be. "Is there a particular reason you wanted to come here?" Murasakibara asked. "It's kind of in the shady part of town…"

"You worry about me a lot, don't you?" Kuroko asked.

"Of course I do."

Kuroko decided it would be best just to get this out of the way quickly. "Murasakibara…you're my boyfriend, right?"

The giant looked momentarily surprised for a second, but recovered quickly. "Yeah…that's right."

* * *

Kuroko awoke the next morning to find Murasakibara standing in his room.

"You're finally awake," The giant commented. "It was pretty hot yesterday. You seemed like you were really tired. Are you still feeling sick?"

"No, that's not it," Kuroko said, still trying to puzzle out exactly why Mursakibara was here before he was even up.

"Do you remember yesterday?"

"I think…we went to the back alley?" Kuroko was a little alarmed to discover he couldn't remember what happened between then and right now.

"That's right. You said you didn't feel good after that so I took you home to rest. You've been sleeping pretty much the whole time since then. I spent the night to keep an eye on you in case you got worse and needed to go to the hospital again."

_So he was here the whole time._ Kuroko was simultaneously both afraid for his lack of recollection and relieved that someone had been there to look out for him considering he was that out of it.

"I'm glad nothing happened," Murasakibara continued, yawning. "I'm sorry, just let me rest for ten minutes," the giant replied sitting down and leaning his head against the bed. "I'm really tired. I think I'm at my limit," he said closing his eyes.

_I don't think he slept at all. _The thought was both touching and a little frightening. _I should let him sleep for a few minutes…_

When he was sure Muraskiabara was sound asleep, he went to investigate the diary again. _What's hidden in here?_


	16. Trying to kill me

**Author's note: Once again Muraksaibara is going to be terribly OOC. I am sorry. He is way too hard for me to write. I'm very tempted to just delete his arc all together and get straight towards the end plot of this story but...I think no Murasakiabara arc might make people angrier. I don't know.**

* * *

Kuroko entered the gym with Murasakibara for practice the next day. They were immediately greeted by an angry Momoi.

"I can't believe you've both been skipping practice! I suppose I should expect it form Mu-kun by now, but for you to be gone too Tetsu-kun…"

"Well, you see," Muraskibara said, and began explaining the events of the last few days to Momoi, including the fact that Kuroko was in the hospital. "So I'd like it if he could miss practice for a few days," Murasakibara finished.

"Of course I understand!" Momoi declared. "Tetsu-kun's recovery comes first. Take all the time you need to get better," she told the smaller male.

"Thank you. I'm sure it will help him." Murasakibara told her. The two of them continued talking for a while before deciding to run to Kuroko's classes and pick up his missed assignments, which Kuroko was embarrassed to have forgotten to ask about. Kise came over to him as soon as they had left.

"I overheard you're not feeling well," the blonde said, concerned. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah…" Kuroko responded distractedly. He could see Kise's fan club camped out on the bleachers, including two people he really didn't want to see. _But I'm not dating Kise in this world so they shouldn't have a reason to hate me…right?_ From the way they were glaring at him though, he supposed they did.

"Did your plan for the first go well?" Kise asked. "Give me the detailed report in the back alley agai-"

"Kise," Murasakibara interrupted. _When did he get back? _"Momoi decided to let Kuroko have some time off from practices," the giant informed the blonde. His tone was less than friendly.

"Is that so? I hope you get better soon, Kurokocchi." The blonde said.

"Yeah…" Kuroko answered awkwardly. Either the Kise hadn't picked up on the hostility directed towards him, or he had chosen to ignore it.

"Let's go," Murasakibara told Kuroko. "Momoi said I could take you home."

"Yeah…" Kuroko said. _If he's this determined to keep me away from Kise, then maybe I'm really…_

"See you later, Kurokocchi," Kise said smiling softly at him before turning to rejoin the practice.

Murasakibara lead them outside. "I'm sorry I decide to have you take time off without asking you," the giant said. "But I still don't think you're feeling your best, so you shouldn't push yourself."

"Yeah…um, about Kise…"

Kuroko didn't get to finish his sentence as a potted plant fell from a classroom window above them, and nearly collided with Kuroko's head. Kuroko screamed. It had barely missed, but it left sharp broken pieces of pottery all over the pavement. A quick glance upwards could reveal a person quickly moving away from the window, but they were too high to make out any identifying features.

Murasakibara had noticed the person too. "Stay right here," he practically growled before dashing into the school.

_Wh-why is this happening. If that hit me it could have …did they try to…kill me?_

Mursakibara came back a few minutes later. "Sorry. I lost them," the giant said, sounding extremely upset with himself. "Are you okay?" he asked Kuroko, his voice switching to one of concern. Kuroko nodded mutely. "Why don't you come to my place tonight?" Murasakibara invited.

* * *

"I know you've seen my family's house before I moved out, but this is your first time here, right?" Murasakibara asked once they'd arrived. "Sorry for forcing you to come here. I'm just worried."

"It's fine," Kuroko said softly. He was still pretty badly shaken up.

"Make yourself at home. I have some assignments I need to finish up on the computer."

"Okay."

"Feel free to help yourself to the books or games over there," Murasakibara said, gesturing to the bookshelf. Not having much else to do, Kuroko flipped through some books. After an hour or so, Murasakibara spoke again. "I have to run back to school to pick up a textbook I left behind. I can go shopping on the way back. Do you want anything?"

"Nothing in particular."

"Okay. Then just wait here for me."

"Okay."

Kuroko waited a few minutes after he'd left, then set out to do some grocery shopping on his own. _I can't bother Murasakibara for everything. I want to be useful. And if I hurry back, he won't worry._ It didn't take long before he had acquired what he set out for and was making his way back. He was walking along a particularly dimly lit street when he heard a familiar voice.

"We meet again."

"You're…" Kuroko started as the familiar spiky red hair came into view.

"You don't have to be confused. It makes sense that you wouldn't know me. But I am suspicious, aren't I? By the way, are you going out with Murasakibara this time?"

Kuroko froze. _Something's wrong. I don't know what it is, but this doesn't feel right. It feels…off. Like I'm talking to a completely different person than the one I've talked to before. And…I'm scared._

"It looks like I'm right," the stranger said. "I'm glad you're happy." He closed his eyes for a few moments. And when he opened them again, Kuroko noticed his eyes were mismatched. _How could I have missed that before?_

"But too bad," the stranger continued, sporting an absolutely feral grin and starting to laugh like a maniac. Kuroko tried to run, but they easily grabbed his arm and held him in place. "You're going to be killed!" the stranger carried on. "Your life is almost over. Enjoy it while you can!" He once again broke out in deranged laughter.

"W-what do you mean?" _Who are you? Why are you doing this? What happened to you?_

"Don't you get it? How pitiful."

"Hey! You!" Kuroko recognized the voice and turned his head to see Murasakibara racing towards them. The stranger threw Kuroko into wall and promptly took off. "Wait!" Murasakibara shouted, attempting to chase after him. But he stopped his pursuit once he took sight of Kuroko. "Are you okay?" he asked kneeling down beside him.

"I-I think so…"

"Why did you go out? I told you it was dangerous."

"To go shopping…" Kuroko answered in a daze.

"You should have asked me."

"I'm sorry…"

"You don't have to apologize. I know it was scary. But it's okay now," Muraskibara said placing a hand on his shoulder.

* * *

"So you don't know who that guy was?" Murasakibara asked once they had gotten back to his house. Kuroko remained silent. "I'm sure you're tired," Murasakibara said after a moment. "You should get some rest."

"Yeah…"

"And if you want to go out, let me know. It's dangerous by yourself."

Kuroko nodded. He was given the bed to sleep on, while Murasakibara took the couch. Kuroko fell asleep quickly, but his dreams were not pleasant. The meeting with the stranger kept replaying over and over. _You're going to be killed._

When Kuroko woke up the next morning, he headed into the living room to find Murasakibara still sleeping. He walked over by the couch. _I'm glad he was there yesterday. If he wasn't…._ Kuroko didn't really want to think about it.

"What's wrong?" The giant said with his eyes still closed. "You can't sleep by yourself?" Eyes still shut, he reached out an arm and pulled Kuroko onto the couch with him. "Is this better?" he asked still without opening his eyes. "You can't be by yourself."

"M-Murasakibara…?"

"Huh?" The giant finally opened his eyes and looked relatively peaceful for a moment before his face switched to shock. "Wh-what? Uh…sorry. I was half asleep still."

"O-oh…"

"Come on, we should get up. You don't like being cuddled, right Kuro-chin?" Murasakibara asked, picking himself up off the couch. Kuroko followed suit. "We should go shopping today," Murasakibara declared, opening the window.

"Huh?"

"I thought I could take you back home after two or three days, but when I think about the flowerpot incident and that weird guy yesterday, I think you should stay at my place for a while. Okay?"

"I'd appreciate that," Kuroko said sincerely. He really didn't want to be by himself with all the weird stuff that seemed to be going on.

"Let's go buy whatever stuff you'll need to stay over."

* * *

They shopped for several hours. They bought so much stuff that Kuroko thought he could probably live off it for a year. He didn't think he needed that much, but Murasakibara insisted it was better to be safe than sorry. Eventually, though, the giant became worn out too.

"I don't normally do this much shopping," Murasakibara said. "I'm pretty tired."

"Sorry for making you come along," Kuroko apologized.

"Why? I was the one who suggested it."

"I'll go get something to drink," Kuroko offered. He was pretty worn out himself, and he figured both of them could use a break.

"Thanks."

Kuroko made his way towards a vending machine, but unfortunately it didn't take long for him to be intercepted by Kise's fanclub.


	17. Truth and Lies

**Author's note: OOC warning again.**

* * *

Kuroko had paused before the vending machine, trying to decide what to get. He didn't notice someone approach behind him until he felt the cold slice of metal cut into his cheek.

Kuroko screamed and whirled to see his attacker. Riko held a knife, and Alex was right behind her.

"Well, have you learned your lesson?" Riko asked him. "Next time we won't let you off so easy." Leaving him with that warning, the pair took off.

It didn't take long after that for Murasakibara to show up. "What happened? I head you scream." Kuroko turned to face him, and could see his eyes widen in shock. "What happened to your face?"

* * *

They went home to patch up his face, and Kuroko filled him in on what happened. "Well, the good news is that I don't think it will scar but it still doesn't make what they did any better. I feel bad for you," Murasakibara said. "It will probably be better if you don't go out for a while. It's dangerous." His eyes became dark and his next words took on a dangerously threatening tone. "I'll never forgive them. I couldn't stop them today, but I won't let them do it again. No matter what happens, I'll protect you."

"M-Murasakibara…?" _You're kind of scaring me._

"Sorry," he apologized, tone going back to normal. "I think something fell out of one of the bags," he said changing the subject. "I'll go look for it quick. Don't go out by yourself, okay?"

"Okay." The giant left.

_Those girls…they're still part of Kise's fanclub. But I'm not dating Kise in this world, so why…_ The meeting with Kise that was recorded in his planner flashed through his mind, as did Kise's request to fill him in on the details in the back alley again. _The planner said I was supposed to meet him at 4 today…maybe if I call Kise, I can find out what this is about._ He called the blonde, but the call was rejected. _I got a new phone…maybe he doesn't recognize the number._ He supposed he couldn't blame Kise for rejecting unfamiliar numbers with all the fangirl stalkers he had. _But still…I have to do something…_ It was currently 3:40 so Kuroko figured he could make their meeting if he hurried. However, he had barely made it out the front door before he was stopped by Murasakibara.

"I told you to stay inside, didn't I? What are you doing?"

"I…um…"

"It's Kise, right? You have plans to meet him today. I saw it in your planner."

"That's right…" _Please don't take it the wrong way…_

The giant's tone became frighteningly cold. "Enough. Let's go back inside." He said grabbing Kuroko's arm and literally dragging the smaller male into the house.

"Murasakibara, I…"

"If you go walking out by yourself like that, do you think nothing's going to happen? If you wanted to go out, you could have let me know. But you couldn't to that either? They might do more than just nick your face. You could get really hurt! Why can't you listen to me!? Why do you still go out despite the risk!?" Murasakibara was practically shouting at him.

"There was something I wanted to ask Kise…" Kuroko tired.

"What?" Murasakibara demanded.

_I wanted to find out if I'm cheating on you. _ It didn't take a genius to figure out that wouldn't go over well. "Sorry…I can't tell you."

"So in the end, no matter how hard I try and stop you, you're going to leave," Murasakibara said, sounding defeated. "No matter what I say, you'd rather be with Kise."

"Murasakibara, that's-"

"DON'T!" The intensity of his voice was terrifying. Kuroko was afraid to so much as breathe and Murasakibara seemed to realize this. "I just need some time to calm down," the giant said, forcing his voice into a more neutral tone. "Don't talk to me until then."

Kuroko left him alone. The day seemed to drag on forever and Kuroko spent most of it feeling like he was trying to tip toe on egg shells. He didn't want to do anything else that could possibly set the giant off. Eventually night fell and found them both on opposite ends of the living room. Kuroko was both afraid to stay in the same and afraid that leaving would set him off again. He sat very still in the armchair and did his best not to fidget.

"Come here," Murasakibara said from the couch after a few minutes. Kuroko obeyed, sitting on the opposite end. This didn't sit well with Murasakibara though, and he pulled Kuroko over to his end and into his arms. "I don't want to see you cry," the giant said. "I don't want to see you sad or see you suffer either. I always want to see you smile, and I want to be the one to make you smile. So, for that purpose, I don't mind if you hate me. That's what I've decided. But it hurts. The truth is that I want to look after you more than anyone. But I can't."

"Murasakibara…"

"Go get some sleep Kuro-chin. I'm sorry I frightened you earlier."

* * *

They had more or less patched things up the next day, and it seemed everything would go back to normal. That was, until Aomine barged in uninvited and without warning.

"Where's Tetsu?" Aomine demanded, slamming the door loudly behind him. Kuroko sheepishly peeked out from around the corner.

"What are you even doing here?" Aomine asked him. Kuroko was confused.

"You shouldn't come in without asking," Murasakibara inturrupted, walking into the room to confront Aomine.

"What was I supposed to do? Nobody's seen Tetsu in days. He hasn't been coming to school, and I couldn't find him at his house. Why is he staying here anyway?"

"There's been a situation," Murasakibara said. "Kuro-chin is in danger. I've been keeping him safe at my place."

"If he's in danger, why haven't I heard anything about it? Tetsu would have called me. And even if he really is in danger, is it really necessary to keep him here for days in secret without telling anyone on the team what's going on?" Aomine furiously shouted.

"I can't trust anyone. I couldn't see the person who tried to hurt Kuro-chinI don't even know if they were both the same person. So I can't trust you either. It could be any of you, or someone close to you that might hear if you let something slip. So leave Kuro-chin's care to me."

"Why should I? How do I know you aren't the one doing this to keep Tetsu locked up? I don't exactly trust you either. You're not his boyfriend or anything, so what do you think gives you the right to keep him here?"

_What does he mean…he's not…_ Kuroko was becoming very confused. And a little afraid.

"Let's talk about this outside," Murasakibara said, tone sounding very dangerous.

"Fine." The two of them left his range of hearing.

_What's going on? If Murasakibara's not my boyfriend then…_

Kuroko thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice. "He's finally gone."

"Kagami!" Kuroko was happy to see him. It felt like Kagami was the only person he could trust anymore.

"You need to see something," the spirit told him. "I saw Murasakibara hide your phone. Follow me." Kagami led Kuroko to his old phone, which was hidden inside a closet.

"I thought Murasakibara said my phone was broken…" The phone looked perfectly intact as far as Kuroko was concerned. He flipped it open just to be sure, and was immediately bombarded with missed text messages.

You're very existence is a nuisance.

Just disappear.

I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!

I'll never forgive you.

Break up! Break up! Break up!

"Who sent these…?" The sender's number was listed as unlisted for all of them.

"I'm sorry Kuroko. If I'd have known you'd find those messages, I wouldn't have showed you," Kagami apologized.

"It's not your fault." Kuroko noticed there was a text from Kise as well, and he opened as a way to distract himself from the other messages.

How did August first go? Did the plan go well? You didn't seem well, so I'm worried. I wanted to go see you, but Araki stopped me saying it would cause too much trouble for you. Sorry.

Kuroko was so absorbed with the messages that he didn't hear Murasakibara come up behind him. "So you found it…" the giant said.

"Where's Aomine?" Kuroko asked.

"He went home. As much as he hates to admit it, he knows I'm better able to protect you as I'm around more."

"What Aomine said…"

"Oh, that. And this was all going so well too. I never expected him would interfere." The giant paused for a moment. "It may have all been too late. Or maybe I waited too long. I only wanted to keep you smiling, but in the end I couldn't even do that."

"Why did you say we were going out?" Kuroko asked.

"It seemed like you didn't remember much about yourself. So I made you my boyfriend. I guess I should explain more. You were being bullied, right? I know who's behind it. It's Kise's fanclub."

"I know. I think they're also the ones who put trash in my mailbox and sent me those text messages." Kuroko said.

"You knew about that too?" Murasakibara seemed surprised. "Sorry. I tried to get to your house early each day and clear out your mailbox before you could see it, but I guess I wasn't fast enough. Sorry."

_So he was trying to protect me…_

"But as long as you continue to be attracted to Kise, the bullying won't end," Murasakibara continued. "I'm only thinking of protecting you. For that, I'd do anything. No matter what anyone thinks. In the extremist sense, no matter what you think of me. I decided I'd protect you in my own way."

"I want to go home," Kuroko said. He didn't know if he could trust Murasakibara anymore. He had too much to think about.

"I can't let you do that. If I do Kise's fanclub or that strange guy could come after you again. You're safer here." Murasakibara insisted.

"So you'd keep me prisoner?"

"If I have to, yes. It's for your own good Kuro-chin."

Kuroko was about to fire back an angry retort, but Kagami interrupted. "Just pretend to go along with it for now. He can't stay awake and guard the door 24/7. He has to sleep eventually, and that's your chance."

"…I understand," Kuroko said, deciding to go with Kagami's plan.

* * *

It took much longer than Kuroko would have liked, but eventually Murasakibara did succumb to sleep. And that's when Kuroko snuck out.


	18. Diary

**Author's note: Yes, I did just upload 2 chapters. I just want this arc to be over with so we can get to the end plot. As per usual, OOC warnings for this chapter.**

* * *

"What are you going to do?" Kagami asked. "If you go back home, he'll just find you. It's probably the first place he'll look."

"I know. But there's something I need from my house," Kuroko said, thinking of the diary. If he could just get it open…it was sure to contain a plethora of his memories.

"You'd better hurry then," Kagami said. Kuroko sprinted towards his home as fast as he could.

He had nearly reached his house when an accident happened. In his hurry to get home, he wasn't paying much attention to traffic, and ran right in front of an oncoming car. The driver did brake and swerve, but they still managed to clip Kuroko's knees. He fell in the road.

"Are you all right!" Kagami asked worriedly. "I can't believe they just kept driving!" He looked seriously mad.

Kuroko pushed himself back up. His knees were bleeding and they hurt a lot, but he could still walk. "I'll be fine. We're almost there." _I have to get to that diary…._

Kuroko eventually made to his house after much hobbling. The diary was where he had left it. _But it's no good if I don't have the key to open it._ He frantically began searching for it. He looked for what felt like hours. He knew he was taking too long, and he had already wasted too much time getting here after the car accident. But he had to find it.

"Kuroko, the sun's almost up," Kagami told him. "You need to get out of here. You can come back for it later."

"I just…" Kuroko tried. _Where would I have hidden it? _His eyes drifted around the room, and landed on the team photo that he had remembered looking at back when he had first met Kagami. Something about it drew Kuroko. He picked it up, and found a key taped to the backside. _This is…_ He put the key into the lock. It opened with a click.

"Kuroko, we need to go," Kagami tried again. "It's morning. You can read it later." But Kuroko had finally, _finally, _found the answer to the memories he had spent so long searching for. Ignoring Kagami, he flipped to the last entry and began to read. It was dated July 31st.

Tomorrow is the big day. Up until now, I've been talking it over with Kise, but tomorrow I'll confess my feelings to Murasakibara. I'm growing out of being just a friend. It's embarrassing to try to confess these feelings. Ever since I've known him, Murasakibara has always treated me as if I were a younger brother.

_So this was why I was meeting up with Kise. For help with confessing to Murasakibara._ Kuroko felt immensely relived, but his attention was forced elsewhere. He heard the door slam and Murasakibara entered. And he looked furious.

"I've told you again and again how dangerous it is to go outside alone! Do you really want to run away from me that badly?" He asked, striding over to Kuroko. "What do I have to do to get you to listen to me?"

"Murasakibara, listen," Kuroko said thrusting his diary in the giant's face.

"What is that?"

"My diary. Read it."

He looked skeptical, but nonetheless began reading aloud:

When I was upset because I had dropped my vanilla shake, Murasakibara patted my head to comfort me. His hand was so warm, I pretended to still be upset so that he wouldn't stop. And he would always offer me candy, even though he'd never share with anyone else. He's always by my side, on or off the court. And I don't want that to change.

"This is…" Murasakibara started.

"Keep reading," Kuroko encouraged.

Tomorrow is the big day. Up until now, I've been talking it over with Kise, but tomorrow I'll confess my feelings to Murasakibara. I'm growing out of being just a friend. I've fallen in love with Murasakibara.

"You love me…?" Murasakibara asked carefully, as though he doubted the words in front of him. He looked at the entry again. "July 31st…isn't that the day before you collapsed and went to the hospital?"

"Yeah."

"That day you said you wanted to see me. It sounded really important to you too. But then that happened…" Murasaikbara paused for a moment. "I've ruined everything. And all because I thought you liked Kise. The bullying from his fancllub continued to escalate and all I could think about was trying to pull you away from him. And I was even willing to deceive you to do it. I didn't care if you ended up hating me. That's what I had decided. But now…"

"Murasakibara…"

"I'm sorry. I didn't see how you felt at all. And now it's too late. I know you won't forgive me even if I apologize, but let me apologize to you anyway. I'm sorry, Kuro-chin. I'm so sorry."

"Don't apologize. You were trying to protect me, weren't you? Everything you've done has been because you care about me. I understand that now."

"I know I no longer have the right, but let me say it anyway. I love you, Kuro-chin," the giant said, encasing the smaller male's hands in his own.

Kuroko wrapped the giant in a hug.

When they pulled apart though, Murasakibara finally seemed to notice something was off. "Your knees! What happened to them!?"

"Um…I got hit by a car."

"You _**WHAT!?**_" Murasakibara demanded. "You're going to the hospital. NOW."

Kuroko was too tired to protest.

* * *

"It looks like you'll be staying in the hospital again," Murasakibara commented once the doctor was finished with Kuroko. His knees were wrapped up and he was on painkillers, so he actually felt a lot better. "I called Aomine and the rest of the team and told them everything," Murasakibara continued. "They'll be here to visit you tomorrow. I will be too."

"That will be nice-" Kuroko started, but he was interrupted by knocking on the door. Kise came through, followed by Araki, Riko, and Alex.

"I'm very sorry!" Kise apologized before Kuroko could ask why they were here. "All this happened because of me."

"I'm sorry too," Araki apologized. "I let the fanclub get out of control."

"I brought them because they said they wanted to apologize," Kise said, glaring in their direction.

"I'm truly sorry," Araki said, bowing. "This was because of my negligence as president of the fanclub. I never thought these girls would do something so violent."

"It's because Kise pays so much attention to him-" Riko started, but Kise quickly cut her off.

"So what if I do? Do you intend to get rid of anyone who comes near me!? Are your eyes so clouded by jealousy that you can no longer tell the difference between friendship and romance?" Kise demanded. "Apologize properly!"

"Please forgive us," Alex said.

"We're sorry," Riko echoed.

A nurse walked in almost immediately after. "I'm sorry, but I'll need you all to leave now. Visiting hours are over."

One by one they filed out of the room after saying their goodbyes to Kuroko.

* * *

It was late in the night when someone snuck into the hospital and made their way to the sleeping Kuroko's room. They were short, and had slightly spikey red hair.

"What a beautiful moon tonight," the intruder said, commenting on the view that could be seen from the window in the room. "Aren't you glad this beautiful scene is the last you'll ever see?" they asked the sleeping male. But of course, there was no answer. "After all those warnings I gave you…you're so naive. But I still loved you."

The smaller male finally began to stir. "Murasakibara…?" he asked sleepily.

"No," the intruder said, pulling out a pair of scissors. "You're wrong," he said, hovering their blades over Kuroko's heart. "I am…" But just as he made to plunge their blades down, Kuroko found himself being pulled into another memory.

_Fire. Everything was on fire. He could hear bells ringing loudly, deafening even the thoughts in his own head. He tried to run down the staircase and towards the exit, but just before he reached the last of the steps, the celling caved in. It missed him, but left a fiery pile of debris blocking his only escape. He was trapped. On the other side of the wreckage, he saw a familiar person run into view. They were around his height, with slightly spiky read hair. They were frantically shouting something at him, but it was drowned out by the sound of the bells._

* * *

**Author's note: And this arc is finally over. We only have a few chapters left until this story is finished. The secrets behind the plot are about to be revealed! **


	19. Fortune Teller

**Author's note: So sorry for the VERY late update. My job offered me a full time position, so it's been taking up a lot of my time. Updates are likely to be very slow from this point out.**

* * *

When the memory faded, Kuroko found himself standing in his kitchen. _What…just happened?_ He immediately grabbed his phone (his old phone, he noticed) and checked the date: August 1st.

"It looks like you've switched worlds again," Kagami commented, appearing beside him. "What are you going to do?"

Kuroko opened his planner. It appeared had a doctor's appointment for a physical today, followed by basketball practice later. "Should I cancel it…?" he asked Kagami.

"…No," Kagami said after a while. "They make you pass a physical in order to play in games, right? Then you should go. It's only a physical, so if you're careful they shouldn't notice your memory loss."

Kuroko agreed. He wouldn't figure anything out just sitting at home. He turned off his phone and left it to charge since the battery was low, and headed on his way to the hospital.

* * *

Kuroko tried to fill Kagami in on the events so far as he walked, but he was in a hurry. Due to the fact that he was distracted and not paying much attention to where he was going, he ended up running into someone and knocked them both over. "Sorry…" Kuroko apologized, glancing up at the person. Then he froze.

It was the same stranger from before. The one who had tried to kill him in the hospital. "I'm so glad to see you," the red head said with a sad smile. Kuroko stood frozen in horror.

"What are you doing!?" Kagami demanded. "Get out of here, quick!" Kuroko attempted to bolt past, but it ended up being more of a brisk walk.

The stranger looked alarmed. "Wait a second!" he pleaded, snatching Kuroko's arm. Kuroko froze again.

"Don't stop!" Kagami scolded him. "This guy is dangerous."

"Did he do something again?" The stranger asked. _Huh?_ Kuroko was confused. "Listen, there's something I need to tell you," the red head continued. "Don't go to the hospital today."

"W-what do you mean?" Kuroko asked. _And who do you mean by "he"? _

"I'm sure it's hard to just accept something like this immediately, but I need you to do what I say."

"Just pretend you agree and get out of here!" Kagami yelled at him.

"Ok. I understand," Kuroko complied.

"Good. Be sure to keep an eye on your surroundings," the stranger cautioned before leaving. Kuroko released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"Maybe we shouldn't go to the hospital," Kagami said. I don't really understand why he'd warn you away from there, but I've got a bad feeling about it."

"Yeah," Kuroko said. "I think I'll go back home to grab my uniform and then head straight to practice." He'd be a little early, but he could use the time to think.

"All right," Kagami agreed.

* * *

When he opened the gym doors, he found Momoi was already there. "Hello, Momoi," Kuroko greeted her.

She stared at him for a few seconds as though he was a ghost, before throwing herself at him. "I was so worried!" she practically sobbed on him.

"Um, why?" Kuroko asked, confused.

"You don't know!?" Momoi exclaimed. "The accident! At the hospital! There was an explosion and everything! You said you were going to take your physical today, so I thought…."

"Kurokocchi, you're all right!" Kise said, throwing himself on top of the pair. The rest of the team crowded around and expressed similar signs of relief.

"Everyone got here before me…" And here Kuroko had thought he would be early.

"Of course we did. The accident was all over the news," Aomine stated. "You wouldn't answer your phone, so all we could do was wait here and hope you showed up. If you didn't…" Aomine didn't look as though he wanted to finish that train of thought.

"And we aren't all here," Midorima added. "Akashi has yet to arrive."

_Who's that? _Before he could voice the question, the gym doors swung open, revealing the red head he had bumped into earlier in the day. _What's he doing here!?_

"I'm glad to see everyone made it," the latest arrival said. "I would have been here earlier, but I had to take a detour since they closed the street down due to the accident."

_He's Akashi!?_

"Anyway, we should start practice if everyone is here," the red head went on, as though he hadn't heard. He promptly went about directing everyone. Kuroko thought it was strange that Momoi didn't take charge as she usually did, but she didn't seem to mind. She acted as though having Akashi in command was perfectly normal. _Maybe it is…this is a different world, after all…_ Eventually the practice ended, and Kuroko made sure he was the first one out. He wanted some time to think.

"That was strange," Kagami commented. "He seemed seems totally different from how he was at the hospital."

"Yeah," Kuroko commented absentmindedly, walking past the construction site on his way home. He couldn't figure it out either. Even if this was a different world, it was quite a drastic change. Surely, there was something more to it…Lost in thought, he didn't hear someone run up from behind until they had already tackled him to the other side of the street…just as a bunch of metal beams fell from one of the cranes and crashed down where he had just been standing.

"Thank goodness I made it," Kuroko heard the person say. He knew that voice. He tilted his head to see Akashi on the pavement next to him. "I didn't want to have to tackle you like that, but this road is dangerous," he told him. "I'm glad you're okay," he said smiling and looking relieved. "I'd like to walk you back to your place but…" he paused a moment; and his expression had a hint of sadness to it. "Just be careful to use well lit roads with plenty of people on them on your way home."

Kuroko nodded, dumbstruck. Seemingly satisfied, Akashi picked himself up and headed back the way he'd came. Kuroko watched him until he was out of site, and then continued his journey home.

* * *

After that, Kuroko ran into Akashi a lot. And he always had a warning for him.

"_This intersection is dangerous so don't cross it. It would be better if you took a detour for awhile." _Two days after that conversation, there was a major traffic accident there about the time Kuroko would have crossed. He was glad he'd taken the detour.

"_It's dangerous, so don't cross this playground for awhile. Don't even go near it, no matter what." _The next day, there was a shooting there, right around the time Kuroko would normally have passed through there. He found out about it while watching the new with Kagami.

"No matter how you look at it, it's weird," Kagami said, clearly troubled. "This week alone there's been this, the traffic accident, and the hospital…everything that guy has said has come true. It's awfully suspicious. Do you think he can see the future?" Kagami asked.

"That's ridiculous," Kuroko deadpanned. Still, it bothered him. This world was far more dangerous than any of the others. At this point he was more than ready to be shifted to another world. "I wonder why he warns me about all this stuff anyway?" Kuroko thought aloud. It wasn't too long ago that Akashi had tried to kill him; surely it would be easier if someone else did it for him?

* * *

The next day Kuroko ran into Momoi just as he entered the school grounds. "Oh Tetsu-kun, there's no practice today," she told him. "Their having the bleachers repaired today." They were in pretty bad shape, they had made a horrible grinding noise when they'd been used during assembly, so the school had thought it best to have them inspected as quickly as possible for the safety of the students. "I was just going to put this note on the gym doors," Momoi lifted the paper she had in her hand. "Could I trouble you to do it for me? I'm supposed to go pick up some of Aomine's missed assignments…" Apparently he'd been skipping again, which Kuroko shouldn't find surprising by this point.

"I don't mind."

"Thank you Tetsu-kun!" Momoi said handing him the notice before running off. Kuroko walked to the gym, and put the notice up on the doors.

"So they are getting fixed today…" Kuroko turned to see Akashi standing behind him, reading the notice over his shoulder.

"Oh, um, hi," Kuroko stammered awkwardly. "You startled me. Did you know they were going to be coming to fix them today?" Kuroko asked, trying to cover up his flustered state. Akashi really didn't seem that surprised.

"Not really…it was just a hunch." He didn't seem to want to talk about the topic.

"Yeah right," Kagami commented. "He totally knew. He's like some kind of freaky fortune teller."

"If it's alright, could I walk you home after school today?" Akashi asked seemingly out of the blue. "If we stick to roads with lots of people, you should be fine. I'll be sure to keep my distance as well."

"That's about as shady as they come," Kagami commented dryly. "You really want to do this?"

Kuroko couldn't come up with a good reason to refuse. And if he wanted to learn more about Akashi, he figured asking him directly would probably be easiest. "That should be fine," Kuroko said.

* * *

The walk home was awkward. Akashi walked several paces behind Kuroko, and seemed content to remain silent for the trip, despite Kuroko's efforts at small talk. Eventually though, he did speak up. "Isn't your house the other direction?"

"I wanted to do some shopping before I went home. I'm kind of low on groceries…" Kuroko said, surprised Akashi knew where he lived. He supposed he really shouldn't have found it all that surprising though, considering in other worlds Aomine and Kise had been able to find his house with no problems.

"I understand," Akashi said, lapsing back into silence. Seemingly out of reflex, he reached his hand out for Kuroko's. Kuroko jerked his hand back as if he had been bitten.

"…Sorry," Akashi apologized looking momentarily shocked. He recovered quickly enough though. " I'm just so used to having you by my side that it's become a habit."

_Oh, no._ "Have we done this often?" Kuroko asked, dreading the answer and yet already knowing what it was going to be. _If this world is following the same patterns as the others, then…_

Akashi looked shocked, but it was quickly replaced with a look of sadness. "That's right…"

"I'm sorry," Kuroko apologized. "I…"

"We've walked this path many times, hand in hand. But you don't remember."

_He knows that I've lost my memories!_ Normally they didn't figure it out this fast, if they did at all. Kuroko was trying to figure out what to do about the situation as they crossed the street. He was so distracted that he didn't see the car run the red light, and was only saved from his demise by Akashi once again tackling him out of harm's way.

"Are you all right?" Akashi asked, clearly concerned.

"Y-yeah," Kuroko nodded dumbly, picking himself up. "T-thank you…" Cars seemed to have it out for him in almost every world he'd been in. He was beginning to think it safer just to take a bus everywhere just so he didn't have to cross the street.

"I want you to listen very carefully to what I'm about to say,"Akashi, picking himself up as well. "This isn't the first time I've saved you from danger, is it?"

"No," Kuroko answered. Akashi had warned him about several other dangers this week. And even in the worlds before…

"This world is trying to kill you," Akashi said. Kuroko just stared at him shocked.

"W-what do you mean…?"

"From now until the end of August 25th, many disasters are going to come upon you," Akashi replied. "I don't expect you to believe me, but I want you to listen to my warning. I want you to live."

"How…do you know this?"

"You may have forgotten but…I'm your boyfriend."


	20. The old well

"Hearing this so suddenly must come as a shock," Akashi continued. "We did only just start dating after all.

_He doesn't even seem that worried about my amnesia. How long has he known about my memory loss for? _Kuroko doubted he'd just discovered now. It seemed more like Akashi had known about it for a while. Since the first time Kuroko ran into him in this world maybe? He couldn't possibly have known about it before… Akashi watched Kuroko muse to himself for awhile before he interrupted. "Do you remember when we first met?" Startled, Kuroko shook his head.

"The first time I met you was when our grade schools played against each other in a junior basketball game," Akashi said. "We destroyed you. But despite that, you never gave up. You encouraged all your teammates to give it their best until the very end too. Even though you lost horribly, you looked as though you had fun. You were the strangest person I had ever met. I couldn't get you out of my mind, not even months after that game had ended." He paused for a moment before continuing. "I never thought I'd see you again, so I was surprised when I found out you and I had chosen to attend the same secondary school. But more than that, I was happy."

Kuroko tried to let all of that information sink in. He had only met Akashi in passing in the other worlds, so it felt to Kuroko as though he were really getting to meet him for the first time. He still couldn't figure out why Akashi changed so dramatically between worlds though. He hadn't even been a teammate in any of the others. Kuroko felt as though he were missing some crucial piece of information that would allow everything to fall into place, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

Akashi gave him a few moments before interrupting his thoughts. "The sun has already set. We need to get you home." He turned in the direction of Kuroko's house. "It's dangerous," he said as he continued walking.

Kuroko followed him for a bit before Kagami decided to speak up. "What exactly did he mean when he said the world was trying to kill you?" Kagami asked him.

Kuroko wasn't exactly sure either, so he decided to ask Akashi the same question. "Akashi, what did you mean when you said the world was trying to kill me?"

"Ah, that…" Akashi stopped walking and turned to face him. "What happened at the construction site wasn't an accident. All sorts of dangers like that will continue to follow you… You must think this is all crazy," Akashi sighed, before abruptly changing the topic. "Do you know there's a well at the old shrine nearby? That well is dangerous. It's in a very thick grove of trees, and it's dark even during the day. Wells begged to be looked into, don't they? Well, the bottom of that well is like a swamp with mud and stagnant water. The more you struggle, the more you'll sink."

"…Did he fall in?" Kagami asked.

"It was so cold…" Akashi said, wrapping his arms around himself as though for warmth. It seemed as though he had forgotten Kuroko was even there.

"He did fall in," Kagami deadpanned.

"Um, Akashi…?" Kuroko tried. The red head looked startled for a moment, before abruptly dropping his arms and apologizing. "Sorry. It's nothing. In any case, just be careful of that well. The world is out to get you. I'll try to guide you through that danger, so from now on I'd like you to do as I say so you can make it safely to the end of August 25th."

"Why August 25th?" Kuroko and Kagami asked in unison.

Akashi's face looked more pained than Kuroko had ever seen it. Kuroko was about to apologize for asking, but the Akasi spoke up first. "I can't answer that. Sorry."

"Akashi…can you see the future?" Kuroko asked, thinking of his earlier conversation with Kagami. How else could he know everything before it was going to happen?

"Not exactly. I don't know these things because of prediction or instinct. I know the future…because I've experienced it."

"…Time traveler?" Kagami guessed. "I've never heard of a human who could do that…" Kuroko hadn't either. He was about to ask Akashi about it, but he spoke again before Kuroko had the chance to.

"It's dangerous for you to be alone with me any longer," Akashi stated, turning to leave. "Of all the dangers that could befall you…I'm the most dangerous."

* * *

After Akashi left them, Kuroko and Kagami eventually made their way back home. They were currently going over the day's events in Kuroko's room.

"He said that until the end of August 25th, disasters will constantly befall you," Kagmai stated. "Considering Akashi's been right so far about the danger you're in, I think you should listen to his warnings."

"He said it's not that he can see the future, but that he knows it," Kuroko thought out loud. "He said he experienced it, right?"

Kagami closed his eyes in thought for a moment. "Do you remember what you talked about with Midorima before? About how we're traveling between parallel worlds?"

"Yeah."

"This is just my theory, but I wonder if Akashi is moving through time and parallel worlds like we are, and that's how he experienced these things before. The only problem with it is that an ordinary person shouldn't be able to do that… In either case, we need to find out more about him."

"You're right." He intended to do just that, starting tomorrow.

* * *

On his way to school the next morning, Kuroko found Akashi who appeared to be sleeping under a tree.

"Why is he sleeping here?" Kagami asked.

Kuroko wasn't sure, but figured it was best to wake him up either way. He settled for gently shaking him by the shoulder.

Aakashi woke up with a groan. He put a hand to his forehead that obscured part of his face. "Where am I…?" Akashi took a brief glance at his surroundings. "I'm stuck in this world again…" His voice sounded incredibly frustrated. Kuroko was becoming concerned. "Are you all right?" he asked Akashi worriedly.

Akashi turned to look at him, and his face was filled with more rage than Kuroko had ever seen. "YOU!" he shouted, grabbing Kuroko by the front of his shirt and dragging him so they were eye to eye. Kuroko could see the same mismatched eyes he had witnessed once before in another world. _But his eyes weren't like that yesterday…_ "It's your fault! If you weren't around, I could…" Akashi switched his grip to Kuroko's neck and started chocking him. "You're not supposed to be alive in this world! I AM!"

Kuroko was struggling just to breathe. "Please…stop…" Akashi simply sported a wicked grin ad let out a dark chuckle. Just when Kuroko was sure he was going to black out, Akashi abruptly let go of him and flinched back as if in pain. Kuroko immediately started gasping to get air back into his lungs.

"Are you okay!?" Kagami frantically asked him. Kuroko was too busy taking desperately needed gulps of air to answer him.

"You…why…?" Akashi's voice. "What did I do?" He asked, sounding very much distraught. "I didn't hurt you, did I?" His voice was panicked.

"I'm…okay…" Kuroko managed to get out between gasps, but whether he was answering Akashi or Kagami's earlier question, he wasn't sure.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry," Akashi said, bowing to Kuroko so that his head touched the ground. "I think I was still half asleep."

"Half asleep? THAT'S what you call that!" Kagami looked like he wanted to punch Akashi in the face.

"I told you before, I'm dangerous to you," Akashi stated, almost as if he had heard Kagami's words. "I mean, I must even look suspicious to you, don't I?"

"…What does that mean?" Kuroko asked. He'd finally gotten enough air back in him to be able to complete a sentence without gasping.

"In any case, don't let your guard down when you approach me. Okay?"

"Uh, huh…"

"We have school soon. You should get going," Akashi told him. "I think I'll take the long way today…" and with that, he left Kuroko behind as if he couldn't get away fast enough.

* * *

"Do you think he could have a split personality?" Kagami asked once they'd got home. Kuroko remained silent. "He was saying something pretty strange too," Kagami continued.

"You're not supposed to be alive in this world. I am." Kuroko repeated numbly, knowing instantly what Kagami meant.

"It was almost as though he were trying to kill you so that he could live," Kagami frowned.

"…What if that is the case?" Kuroko asked solemnly.

"I don't know," Kagami said, looking worriedly at Kuroko. "But it doesn't change the fact that he's dangerous."

"But he saved me," Kuroko said, recalling the instances with the cars in two separate worlds. "There must be a reason for all this."

* * *

**Author's note: Another very late update. But we have some more plot. Just a reminder that there will be a poll after the next chapter or two where you can vote for your favorite pairing; the outcome of that will determine which pairing will be featured in the epilogue. Thanks so much to all of my reviewers and everyone who continues to look forward to updates. ** **This story is almost over, so I hope you'll stick with me until the end.**


	21. The text

The next evening Kuroko received a voicemail from Akashi. _"Sorry I scared you yesterday. There's something I wish to tell you about myself. I'll be at the abandoned shrine today if you want to talk."_

"I don't think you should go," Kagami said after Kuroko broached the subject with him. "It'll be dangerous."

"But I need to get my memories back, don't I? I can't do that just sitting here. And besides, the more I know about him, the less dangerous being around him will be, right?"

And that's how they ended up going to the shrine.

* * *

"It's dark, so be careful," Kagami warned him when they arrived. The place appeared deserted.

"I wonder if he's even still here…" Truthfully he probably should have called, but he was afraid if he did he'd lose his nerve. He still hadn't quite gotten over yesterday. Kuroko wandered aimlessly around the shrine for a while until he eventually came to an old well. _I wonder if this is the same one Akashi spoke about earlier…_

"You came." Startled, Kuroko spun around to see Akashi standing behind him. "I thought you might not come after I scared you," the red head went on.

"You…wanted to talk me?" Kuroko asked. Something felt…off. Kuroko wasn't sure exactly what it was, but he kept himself on high alert just in case.

"About that…come over here." Akashi started to guide Kuroko by the shoulders. Kuroko tensed at first, but the touch was light enough that he could probably break past if he tried. He let himself be pushed towards the well.

"Is this the same well you told me about earlier?" Kuroko asked, voicing his earlier question. He took a look down. It was pitch black.

"Yes, it is…you fool." Akashi suddenly flipped Kuroko around and pushed his torso over the rim of the well; he was only prevented from falling in by the fact that Akashi was still half holding onto him. "I even warned you to stay away from me. And yet you so easily fell for this."

"Let Kuroko go!" Kagami yelled and swung his fists for all he was worth, but his attacks simply passed right through.

"No one is coming to save you. I told you this well is dangerous. The more you struggle, the more you'll sink, until you can't even breathe anymore," Akashi told him, pushing him slightly farther forward into the well. Kuroko could only stare into his mismatched eyes. "Do you have any idea what that feels like? I've tasted that fear of death again and again…so it's about time you do as well!"

Kuroko was panicking. Without even breaking eye contact, Akashi had pulled a pair of scissors out of his pocket. Kuroko was sure he was going to die; the only question left was whether or not he'd be stabbed to death before his body was tossed into the well's dark depths. But then something strange happened, as if Akashi's arm had a will of its own. Rather than the scissors being aimed towards Kuroko, they were suddenly plunged downwards into Akashi's other hand that was holding onto Kuroko. Akashi screamed and released his hold on Kuroko. With nothing left to hold him up, Kuroko fell backward. He screamed, shut his eyes, and braced himself for the end. But it never came. Instead, he was quickly grabbed by the hand and pulled back onto the grass.

When Kuroko finally dared to open his eyes, he was again greeted with the sight of Akashi. But the cold and cruel look he'd had moments before was replaced with one of panic and worry. Before he had time to fully process this development, Akashi spoke. "Run." Kuroko blinked stupidly, only becoming more confused. "Hurry up and go!" Akashi yelled after Kuroko failed to move. Kuroko pulled himself into a sitting position, but his brain was still too busy trying to process everything for his flight instinct to kick in. It was still dark, they were still by the well, and there was still no sign of anyone else around. The only noticeable difference was Akashi, and the fact that his hand was now bleeding.

"You're injured." Kuroko stated the obvious. Out of reflex perhaps, he tried to get close enough to inspect the injury. But Akashi backed away before Kuroko had even fully stood up. "He might try and do something to you again," Akashi said. "You have to stay away from me."

_Who?…Wasn't it YOU!?_ Kuroko barely had time to process that thought before Kagami interrupted him. "Kuroko, get out of here already!" And presumably Kuroko's thought process finally managed to get to thinking about his wellbeing, because his flight instinct finally kicked in and he took off. Fast. He didn't so much as risk a glance behind him the whole way home.

* * *

"I think it's pretty clear by now that the guy has a split personality or something. And one of them obviously wants to kill you," Kagami informed Kuroko the next day after he had calmed down some. "You should avoid him at all costs. You might even want to consider skipping your practices."

"Yeah…" _But what about the other Akashi…he looked like he was suffering terribly. He's done nothing but save me…is it really fair to abandon him like this?_

* * *

As it turned out, skipping practice wasn't necessary. Akashi had chosen to skip instead. "Akashi hasn't been coming in recently," Murasakibara stated after a week or two had passed.

"You just noticed now?" Aomine taunted him.

"I haven't seen him around school either," Kise said. "I wonder if something happened…"

"His family is probably on a trip or something," Midorima replied logically.

"Still though…I hope he wasn't in an accident or anything." Momoi sounded worried.

Kuroko remained silent. It felt like forever before practice finally ended. Kuroko had barely started on his way home when he received a text from Akashi. Avoid the main intersection today. Take the pedestrian bridge. Kuroko finally stopped to notice Akashi's number was actually programed into his phone in this world. He felt like an idiot for not noticing it sooner.

"ARRRGH! I have no idea if this is a trap or not!" Kagami complained.

"He hasn't lied about this so far. And if we see him, I'll just run," Kuroko said.

And so they took the bridge. But it wasn't too long after they'd crossed it before he received another text. Don't walk under the overpass. It'll be a detour, but you have to avoid it.

As a result, it was almost dark by the time Kuroko got home. At which point, Akashi decided to actually call him. Ignoring Kagami's protest, Kuroko answered the call.

"It's been awhile," Akashi's voice said through the speaker. "Nothing bad has happened, has it?"

"No. But I noticed you've stopped coming to practice recently. Everyone's been worried about you."

"Were you worried?"

Silence.

"I'm being full of myself. Sorry." A pause. "Tomorrow is the 25th. The world will try to kill you with everything it's got. Until midnight of the 26th, I don't want you to take even one step outside your house."

"…Are you okay?" Kuroko asked. "Where have you been during school anyway?" There was a long period of silence, and Kuroko began to wonder if Akashi had hung up. But after what felt like an eternity, Akashi spoke again.

"The moon is beautiful tonight. Can you see it?"

"Yes…?" Kuroko did have a good view of the sky outside his window, but he didn't really understand where Akashi was going with this question.

Apparently Akashi didn't know either. "This will…probably be the last time I can talk to you like this, so I'll tell you now. I don't want you to die. I want you to overcome death somehow."

"Why does this have to be the last time?" Kuroko asked. Something about Akashi's voice had sounded almost…pleading. Desperate even. Kuroko was becoming increasingly concerned.

"Once I hang up, don't trust me anymore. I've lost count of the number of times I've met and lost you…but I still…I still love you."

"Akashi, wai-" but the line went dead before Kuroko could even finish his sentence. He tried to call back, but it went straight to voicemail. Giving up for the today, Kuroko decided to call it an early night and go to bed.

* * *

It poured relentlessly the next day. The wind was practically bending the trees at 90 degree angles. "It sure is some storm," Kagami commented. "There's no guarantee you'll be safe if you stay here, but I'd have to agree with him that it's safer than outside right now," Kagami begrudgingly admitted.

They were both startled when Kuroko's phone alerted them of another text from Akashi. There is only one way to save you. I have to disappear from this world. I'm going to spend my last moments in the school's gym, where I have the most memories of the two of us. Let my wish for you to survive come true.

"A s-suicide note…?" Kuroko didn't want to believe it. He tried calling Akashi again, but it went straight to voicemail. So Kuroko took the only option he had left. He grabbed his coat and bolted in the direction of the school.

"Get back in your house!" Kagami frantically shouted at him as Kuroko ran down the street. "It's dangerous outside, and seeing Akashi is probably even more dangerous!"

"You want me to leave him alone!? What if he kills himself! How am I supposed to live with myself then!?" Kuroko ran past him.

"Wait! Stop!" Kamgai tried shouting for him, but Kuroko kept running. "WATCH OUT!" That finally got Kuroko's attention, and he stooped in his tracks, right in front of a cut and dangerously sparking power line. It probably would have electrocuted him if he'd stepped on it. "Move!" Kagami shouted again. Kuroko looked around wondering what Kagami was warning him about now, and only barley managed to duck in time to prevent a street sign colliding with his face. This really wasn't safe.

"If you're going to be stupid enough to go through with this, at least let me come with you and listen to me when I warn you about something," Kagami told him. "You may not want Akashi to die, but I don't want you to die either."

"Kagami…thank you."

"Just hurry up and get there already," Kagami said, clearly embarrassed. "The last thing we need is for you to die of pneumonia."

After several more near death scenarios, they eventually arrived at the school. Kuroko quickly got himself inside and out of the rain. With that accomplished, he immediately headed for the gym. And as the text had stated, Akashi was there.

"…Why did you come?" the red head asked from the far side of the gym. "I told you over and over again that it was dangerous…"

"I couldn't just sit there after reading your text," Kuroko told him honestly.

"Were you worried about me?"

Kuroko couldn't help but remember his silence that last time Akashi asked him that question, and he felt immensely guilty. "Of course I was worried about you," he said, coming to stand before Akashi.

"I'm happy that you care so much about me," Akashi said at the same time as he pulled out his scissors and aimed them at Kuroko's throat. "How can you be so naive? To think that you'd come here to be killed…"

"Run, run NOW!" Kagami ordered. Kuroko didn't need to be told twice.

"Running won't do you any good," Akashi informed his retreating figure. Kuroko didn't pay him any attention. He got himself back outside where he was faced with another problem. Akashi would expect him to run home and likely head that way first. Kuroko couldn't go back there. The problem was, he didn't really know where else to go. The only two places he could really knew how to get to were school and home. He didn't want to expose any of his other teammates to danger, or lead Akashi near any other people that could become casualties. He needed to go somewhere where there were no people, and somewhere Akashi wouldn't expect him to go. And that's when the idea of the shrine pooped into his head. It was abandoned, and Akashi had almost killed him there, so surely he wouldn't expect Kuroko to go back. Kuroko heard footsteps behind him and quickly took off in the direction of the shrine.

* * *

By the time he finally got there, it felt like his lungs were on fire. He quickly opened the shrines old doors and shut himself inside. Kuroko hid himself as best as possible and struggled desperately to catch his breath. He didn't think he'd been there very long when he heard the doors open again. There seemed to be a light illuminating the place, but Kuroko didn't dare risk a peek. His blood froze when he heard the telltale laugh, and saw the source of the light – a lit torch that had been carelessly tossed on the floor. "In thirty minutes, the 25th will end," Akashi informed him. "How sad." The red head began dragging the sharp end of his scissors across the wall, leaving ugly marks in their wake. "Your life is almost over." Akashi's footsteps were getting dangerously close. "This time, I'll kill you with my own hands." He laughed. The shrine continued to burn.

* * *

**Author's note: Someone sent me a PM suggesting I enter this story in a fanfiction contest. I just wanted to say thank you, it made me really happy that people think this story is good enough. Wish me luck everybody. The next chapter is going to answer almost every plot question left, so look forward to it. All will be revealed soon!**


	22. All is Revealed

Suddenly Akashi was right behind him. "I found you," he informed him, before stabbing his scissors where Kuroko's face had been before he'd rolled out of the way. Kuroko quickly got up and when to run back out the doors, but to his surprise they were locked. Did Akashi have some sort of key to this place? "It's no use running," Akashi told him, holding out the set of keys that Kuroko had been wondering about. "You're destined to die here tonight."

There was a flash of lightning, and suddenly the window cracked. Whether it was from the lightning or the fire licking all around the sides, Kuroko didn't know. Akashi stared at the window for a moment. "Could it be…" he quickly turned to Kuroko. "What are you doing here!? After I told not to go outside…"

The other Akashi…? "But you sent me that text," Kuroko reminded him.

"Text?" He looked momentarily confused. "Of course…it's him again."

"Him?"

"Okay, I need you to listen carefully. You were involved in an explosion on August 1st at the hospital."

"But on August first-" Kuroko started, but Akashi cut him off.

"After the accident, you were unconscious for 25 days, and then on this day….you died." Akashi looked as though he were holding back tears, but he quickly composed himself and continued. "That is what happened in this world the first time."

"The first time…?" Kuroko couldn't help but recall a memory. _The building was on fire he was trying to run down the stairs, but the ceiling caved in and dropped firery debris in front of his only exit. He looked down the long staircase and saw a familiar person come into view: Akashi. But Akashi couldn't save him. He couldn't even reach him._

"I lost you in this world. I couldn't accept your death," Akashi told him. "I traveled to different worlds again and again, looking for a world where you were alive. My only wish…is that you live." Another huge flash of lightning, and the metal handles on the doors cracked with electricity. Kuroko quickly backed away from them. "But…when you die, I get to live." Akashi's voice changed, and looking at him now Kuroko could clearly see his mismatched eyes.

"He just told you didn't he? When I lost you the first time, I traveled to a different world where you still lived. But in the worlds where you lived, I never even existed. When a person who isn't supposed to exist forces their way into a world they don't belong in, they are treated as a foreign body. Just like you right now. You're supposed to die today in this world. So in order to maintain consistency, the world is trying to eliminate you." The fire continued to burn ever closer to them, but Akashi didn't seem to care. "The power of the worlds to eliminate foreign bodies is amazing. No matter how hard you try to avoid it, you can't fight it. It tried to kill me in every possible way. You only avoided danger because of my warnings. It was only able to warn you because I had experienced all of those things. While I was traveling worlds searching for you, I died again and again, and I finally realized…a world where you and I can both live doesn't exist." Akashi once again pointed his scissors at Kuroko. "Only one of us can live. That's why this time, I'm going to escape this meaningless repetition of death…by killing you!"

Akashi jabbed his scissors at him, and Kuroko once again ran for the door in a last desperate attempt to open it. It did no good, and he got a mild shock from the leftover electricity still clinging to the handles. His pathetic attempts allowed Akashi time to catch up to him, and the red head effortlessly grabbed him by the throat and forced his back against the door. "I warned you didn't I? I warned you not to trust me." Akashi's hands were chocking him. But once again, one of Akashi's hands seemed to move of its own accord, and switched to trying to pry the other hand off Kuroko's throat. "Run!" Akashi ordered.

If Kuroko could breathe, he would have told Akashi that his command was a little difficult to follow with him still chocking him and all. But Akashi seemed to be busy arguing with himself. "Why are you stopping me?" The red head asked seemingly no one. "Because I won't let him die!" He screamed back at himself, and finally released his grip on Kuroko. The phantom player slumped to the floor and took some much needed breaths of air. "I have to let him live until tomorrow!" the red head insisted to nobody in particular.

"Are you an idiot?" Akashi argued with himself. "How many times have you died because of him? It hurt, didn't it? It was hell, wasn't it! That's why I even exist, isn't it!?"

"Shut up!" He screamed back at himself.

"If the world won't allow us to exist with him, then I'll kill him first! We've already killed him so many times! Why should this time be any different?"

"That's true." Akashi sounded sad. "Up until now, I've…I've killed him so many times like this, all to escape my own death." He seemed to be speaking more to himself than his other half now. "A forceful death is cruel, and there were no gentle ways to die. I was so weak, and it was so painful that I couldn't take it anymore. I…I killed him with my own hands."

"Akashi-" Kuroko hoped he reason with the sane one, but it seemed his voice brought the other one to the surface.

"But even when I killed you, my weaker half would just cry, unable to bear the guilt. And I'd move to another world and start the whole cycle over again. But Fujimaki doesn't have that power anymore." He grinned.

"Fujimaki!?" Kagami exclaimed, "But that's-" Another lightning flash, and a burning section of the roof fell between the two teammates. "Run!" Akashi shouted at him.

"But-"

"Kuroko, we have to go!" Kagami told him. Since he couldn't open the doors, Kuroko made for the lone staircase in the building, in the hopes that there might be a fire escape on the top level. As he was ascending the stairs, Kagami filled him in. "Now I know how Akashi could move through worlds. Fujimaki is…well…he's the creator of the entire spirit realm. He gains his power through granting peoples' wishes. In order to grant Akashi's wish of seeing you alive, Fujimaki must have moved Akashi between worlds."

Kuroko finally reached the top of the staircase, and other lightning strike illuminated the clock on the wall. The upstairs was even hotter. Kuroko could vaguely Midorima saying something about how heat rises during one of their practices, and he wished now that he'd paid more attention at the time. There was a door on the upper level, but when he tried to open it he found it locked. And the only keys were…

Kuroko could hear footsteps flying up the staircase, as well as the sound of Akashi dragging his scissors through the railing. "Now then, time's almost up," Akashi said as he reached the top of the stairs. "Choose: Burn to death here or…die by my blade!" Akashi raised his scissors in front of him. "Neither are gentle. I know from firsthand experience. Now make you choice. Or would you prefer to burn to death after being stabbed by me?" Akashi charged at him.

Kuroko had nowhere else to run. His only hope was to try and bolt past Akashi, but the red head was too fast. Akashi slammed him against the wall and held him there. "Playtime is over. This time I'll make sure you're dead." Akashi raised his scissors, and Kuroko could do something except shut his eyes and brace for impact.

"Don't give up!" Kagami yelled at him. "As long as you keep fighting, your death isn't a certainty. Besides, I thought you wanted to help Akashi. Do you think dying is going to do that?" Kagami's words got through, and Kuroko managed to jerk his head out of range of the blades as they came down. But despite his best efforts, he was still trapped in Akashi's grip.

"It's no use struggling," Akashi told him once more. "This is the end!" He raised his blades for the final strike. "Die!" Kuroko shut his eyes and tried his best to wriggle free of Akashi's grip, but it was no use. He heard the sickening sound of metal cutting through flesh, but surprisingly felt no pain. Maybe he was numb from shock. Maybe he was already dead. He opened his eyes and gasped in horror. Akashi had plunged his blade…through himself.

"H-how could he…" Akashi rasped to himself. "How stupid…my undoing…was him…" Unable to support his own weight, he fell over.

"WHY!?" Kuroko cried running to his side. "I didn't want you to die!"

"…Are you…okay…?" Akashi wheezed. "Are…you hurt…?"

"Forget about me, I'm worried about YOU!" Kuroko shouted through his tears.

"…Hurry…" Akshi said, struggling to lift up the key ring to Kuroko, "Get out…of here…"

"Then come with me!"

"Don't worry…about me. It's strange but I don't feel any pain or suffering…" "Could it be because this is the first time I've chosen my death?" He had a brief coughing fit.

"Akashi, we need to leave. We don't have much time until the whole place burns."

"Then hurry…and go…" he said placing the keys in Kuroko's lap. "Even though I knew I had to give up, I want to see you...I wanted you to smile for me…one more time…" The bloodstain on his chest continued to grow ever larger, but Akashi seemed unaware of it. "And for such a selfish wish, I killed you…I'm the one who should die here."

"Don't say that!" Kuroko could barely see through his tears anymore.

"You're so kind. Every time I traveled to a new world and found you…I was a stranger to you…All I could do was watch you from a distance…your smiling face…your cheerful voice…" Akashi let his tears flow freely. "Even though it was meant for someone else, I thought as long as you were happy…but the truth was, I missed you…so to be able to meet you in this world, even if it was only for a brief time…to be able to spend time with you…I was happy. As long as you can survive through today…" He had another coughing fit, lasting longer this time. "Now hurry. This is what I deserve for having done so many cruel things to you."

"No…You've saved me so many times…" Kuroko tried desperately to wipe his tears away with his sleeve.

"What I did to you cannot be forgiven," Akashi said simply.

"That's not true," Kuroko said, taking his hand with the keys and gripping Akash's own with it. "So let's go together."

"Thank you…my love…but I can't" Akshi's voice had gotten so soft that Kuroko could barely hear him. "You must live…live on…" Akashi's eyes closed, and the clock chimed as it struck midnight. The ringing of the chimes echoed throughout the building. And when they stopped, all was deathly silent, save for the cracking of the fire and the roaring of the storm.

"Akashi…Akashi!" Kuroko shook him frantically. The red head's eyes opened slowly. "It seems...my wish came true…" Akashi smiled softly. Kuroko smiled back through his tears. Suddenly a bright glow came from Akashi's body. And the world went white.

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**Author's note: This story is currently only four views away from 10,000 views! That's amazing! It also currently has 34 reviews, 52 favorites, and 61 alerts. That's awesome. Thanks so much to everyone who was a part of this. The next chapter will be the final chapter of this story.**


	23. The End and the Beginning

When Kuroko could see again, he was in a world above the clouds. He even appeared to be standing on one, although he wasn't sure what was stopping him from falling through. Almost everything he could see was a blank whitness.

"How…"

"Fujimaki saved you." Kagami said appearing beside him. "Akashi too, although I'm still not sure he deserved it."

Suddenly a bright light illuminated over their heads. Kuroko tried to look at it directly, but it was too bright, and he had to look away. "Fujimka has something to tell you," Kagami told him. "I'll translate for you." Kagami closed his eyes and was quiet for a few moments before he spoke.

"Because you granted Akashi's wish, Fujimaki regained his powers. He thanks you and is grateful for your service. In order to understand what humans are, and what it is that they desire, Fujimaki has continued to grant wishes. However, Akashi's wish was not one that could be granted easily. Because of that, Fujimaki ended up causing him great pain. And Fujimaki feels as though he's wronged you as well."

"What do you mean?" Kuroko asked.

"Well…I guess your moving through parallel worlds was more Fujimaki's fault than mine. It started when you fell from the cliff that first time. Akashi was nearby at the time, and was going to let you die. But his other self, who had seen you die so many times already, couldn't bear it again. Sensing Akashi's suffering, Fujimaki sent you to another world. But it was only an emergency measure, and it took everything he had just to transport your consciousness. As a result, Fujimaki lost control of his powers. Because of that, you ended up being tossed from one world to another at random. That fact that it was always to August 1st was because it was important to Akashi's wish, as it was the starting point to determine whether you lived or died."

"So does that mean Fujimaki is also the one who caused my amnesia?" Kuroko asked.

"No. That was actually my fault." Kagami scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "But anyway, Fujimaki has his powers back now thanks to you, and he said he'd return your memories for you. He'll also return you to your original world."

"But…I…" This should have been what he wanted. It was what he had fought for so long. But now that it was actually going to happen, Kuroko was kind of scared. "What if he didn't like the person he really was? With his memories back, he'd basically be a different person. Did he really want to lose his current self?

"What's wrong?" Kagami asked, picking up on his uneasiness. "Shouldn't you be happy?"

"I…it's just so sudden…" He willed himself to believe that's all it was.

"Of course you'd be unsure." Kagami seemed to have read his mind. "You don't know what kind of memories you had. Who you are now and what's going on around you is completely different than anything before. These were unexpected circumstances." Kagami gave a dry laugh. "But remember, you've had so many experiences in different worlds. Even though you didn't know what to expect, you stood up to face it and came to understand it. The person you are now would be fine in any situation." Kagami smiled brightly. "The fact is, you did well even when I wasn't around." He's face suddenly turned sullen. "I really wasn't able to help you at all…even though you ended up in this mess because of me. I'm sorry." He bowed his head apologetically.

"No," Kuroko said, reaching his hand up to rest on the taller male's shoulder. "I'm really glad you were there with me, Kagami. You encouraged me when I was full of doubts. You tried to figure everything out with me, and you always reassured me that everything would turn out fine. Even when I thought I was going to die, you're the one who told me not to give up. Without you, I'm sure I would have…" Kuroko left that sentence unfinished. "Thank you for being by my side, Kagami."

"I…I'm glad I met you to…T-thank you." It seemed Kagami was terribly awkward at dealing with compliments. "There were a lot of challenges along the way, but it was fun. Now I understand why Fujimaki was so curious about humans. You really are interesting."

"Thanks, I guess," Kuroko said laughing.

"I had so many new experiences because of you. I want to learn a lot more about you humans. But I'm nowhere near as powerful as Fujimaki though, so I'm going to have to work at it." His face was determined.

"Then I'll help you learn. I'd love to work with you again." Kagami's face fell. "Unless…you don't want to…?" Kuroko felt hurt. "I mean, you were stuck with me for a really long time, so I can under-"

"That's not it," Kagami said. "There's one more thing I need to tell you. When you get your memories back, I'll be separated from your consciousness. When that happens, you won't be able to see or hear me anymore."

"You mean…I can't ever talk to you again…?" The thought was horrible. Kuroko could feel tears pricking at the corners of his eyes.

"Yeah," Kagami said simply. "And when you get your memories back, Fujimaki says you'll forget about me." He looked away, struggling to hide his own sadness. All was silent for a moment.

"Kagami." The red head turned to look at Kuroko as he spoke. "If…if you ever happen to pass by me again, will you ask if I can hear you anyway?"

"Huh?"

"We've been connected for so long…I feel like I'd be able to tell you were there."

Kagami stared at him blankly for a moment before sprouting a grin. Okay. The next time I see you, I'll give it my best shot!" His grin widened and he gave a thumbs up.

"It's a promise then," Kuroko said.

"Yeah." The brilliant light returned, and a set of doors appeared out of nowhere in the distance. "You need to head through there," Kagami told him. "Your world is waiting for you on the other side."

"Yeah…" Kuroko began to slowly walk towards the doors. As he did so, he couldn't help but recall all the time he'd spent with Kagami. When he'd first met him and thought he was a stalker. All the times they'd talked on his way to and from school. When Kagami had tried to save him from drowning and falling off the cliff. When he'd gotten angry at the fanclub on Kuroko's behalf. When he'd gotten angry at Kuroko for drawing him so terribly. All the times they'd discuss things at his house. When Kuroko feared he'd lost Kagami for good.

And now…he really would.

He stopped in front of the door, and it opened of its own accord. Kuroko couldn't see past the blinding light contained within to discover what was on the other side. He would just have to walk through and hope for the best then. But before taking those final steps, he hesitated. He looked back. And saw Kagami waving him farewell, smiling despite the tear streaks on his face.

_Goodbye, Kagami._ Kuroko wanted to say the words to him, but they felt too final. As though saying them would ensure he would never see Kagami again. And so, with his vision a little blurry from his own tears, he walked through the doors and back into the world he belonged.

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The other side of the door was white. Kuroko wondered if Fujimaki had made a mistake until five more doors appeared, each a different color: Blue, Yellow, Green, Purple, and Red. Was he…being given a choice…? But that couldn't be right…unless Fujimaki didn't know which world he was from either…?

Kuroko sighed. He thought long and hard about each of the worlds. To which had he felt the most connected? Which had felt the most like home? It could have been minutes or hours, but eventually he came to a decision. With his mind made up, he opened his chosen door…

…and heard a familiar voice as he crossed over to the other side.

**"Welcome home, to your world."**

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**Author's note: And this story is finished. Thanks again to everyone for reading. You guys are the best.**


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